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papers  of  %  penological  Institute  of  ^merita. 

CLASSICAL  SERIES. 

II. 


REPORT  ON  THE  INVESTIGATIONS  AT 

ASSOS,  1882,  1883, 

Part  I. 

By  JOSEPH  THACHER' CLARKE. 

SSEttfj  an  ^ppentui. 


Printed  at  the  Cost  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Architects. 


NEW  YORK: 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY, 
66  Fifth  Avenue. 

1898. 


V 


University  Press: 

John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge,  U.  S.  A. 


* 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE  OF  AMERICA. 


Council,  1897-98. 


President. 

Professor  JOHN  WILLIAMS  WHITE,  Ph.  D.,  LL.  D  ,  Harvard 
University ,  of  the  Boston  Society. 

^onorarg  Presidents. 

Professor  CHARLES  ELIOT  NORTON,  Litt.  D.,  LL.D.,  Harvard 
University,  of  the  Boston  Society. 

President  SETH  LOW,  LL.  D.,  Columbia  University,  of  the  New 
York  Society. 


Ft'ce=Prestoents. 

President  DANIEL  C.  GILMAN,  LL.D.,  Johns  Hopkins  University , 
President  of  the  Baltimore  Society. 

Dr.  WILLIAM  PEPPER,  LL.  D.,  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Pennsylvania  Society. 

Mr.  MARTIN  A.  RYERSON,  LL.B.,  Chicago ,  of  the  Chicago  Society. 

Hon.  STEPHEN  SALISBURY,  A.  M.,  LL.B.,  Worcester,  of  the 
Boston  Society. 

Professor  THOMAS  DAY  SEYMOUR,  LL.  D.,  Yale  University,  of 
the  New  York  Society. 

ISdltor  tn  Cfjlef  of  tfje  Journal. 

Professor  JOHN  HENRY  WRIGHT,  A.  M.,  Harvard  University , 
of  the  Boston  Society. 

©tfjer  ftflembers  of  tfje  Council. 

Mr.  GEORGE  A.  ARMOUR,  A.  M.,  Chicago ,  of  the  Chicago  Society. 

Mr.  SELDEN  BACON,  A.  M.,  LL.  B.,  New  York,  of  the  Wisconsin 
Society. 


IV 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Mr.  DAVID  L.  BARTLETT,  Baltimore,  of  the  Baltimore  Society. 

Mr.  CHARLES  BUNCHER,  Detroit ,  of  the  Detroit  Society. 

MK  SocfetjfENCE  H'  CLARK’  Philadelphia,  of  the  Pennsylvania 

Professor  MARTIN  L.  D'OOGE,  P„.  D„  LL.  D„  University  of  Mich- 
igan,  President  of  the  Detroit  Society 

Professor  HAROLD  N.  FOWLER,  Ph.  D„  Western  Reserve  Uni- 
versity,  of  the  Cleveland  Society. 

professor  ARTHUR :L  FROTHINGHAM,  JR„  P„.  D„  Princeton 
University ,  of  the  Baltimore  Society 

Mr.  MALCOLM  S.  GREENOUGH,  A.B.,  Cleveland,  President  of  the 
Cleveland  Society. 

Professor  WILLIAM  GARDNER  HALE,  LL.  D,  University  of 
Chicago,  President  of  the  Chicago  Society 

MR-  CHARLES  L.  HUTCHINSON,  LL.  D,  Chicago,  of  the  Chicago 

^^DINER  M-  LANE,  a.  B.,  Boston,  of  the  Boston  Society. 

MR.  JAMES  LOEB,  A.  B.,  (Treasurer,)  New  York,  of  the  New 
York  Society. 

Mrs.  NICHOLAS  LONGWORTH,  Cincinnati,  President  of  the  Cin¬ 
cinnati  Society. 

Professor  ALLAN  MARQUAND,  Ph.D,  L.  H.  D,  Princeton  Uni 
versity,  of  the  New  York  Society. 

Miss  ELLEN  F.  MASON,  Boston ,  of  the  Boston  Society 

Professor  EDWARD  DELAVAN  PERRY,  Ph.  D.,  Columbia  Uni¬ 
versity,  President  of  the  New  York  Society 

Mr.  FREDERIC  J.  de  PEYSTER,  A.  M„  LL.  B„  New  York,  of  the 
New  York  Society. 

Professor  DANIEL  QUINN,  Ph.  D„  Catholic  University  of  America 
President  of  the  Washington  Society. 

Mr.  EDWARD  ROBINSON,  A.  B.,  Boston,  of  the  Boston  Society 

Professor  MOSES  STEPHEN  SLAUGHTER,  P„.  D„  University 
of  Wisconsin,  President  of  the  Wisconsin  Society 

Professor  FITZ  GERALD  TISDALL,  P„.  D„  College  of  the  City  of 
New  York ,  of  the  New  York  Society. 

Professor  JAMES  R.  WHEELER,  Ph.  D„  Columbia  University,  of 
the  New  York  Society. 

Mrs.  H.  WHITMAN,  Boston,  President  of  the  Boston  Society. 

Mr.  CLARENCE  H.  YOUNG,  Ph.  D.,  (Secretary,)  Columbia  Uni¬ 
versity,  of  the  New  York  Society. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 


HE  Report  on  the  Investigations  made  at  Assos  in  1 88 1 , 


X  by  the  expedition  sent  out  by  the  Archaeological  In¬ 
stitute  in  charge  of  Mr.  Joseph  Thatcher  Clarke,  was  issued 
in  1882.  The  investigations  were  still  in  progress,  and  it  was 
intended  that  so  soon  as  possible  after  their  completion  a 
final  Report  should  be  prepared  and  published.  The  work 
of  the  expedition  ended  in  the  spring  of  1883.  Most  of  the 
members  of  the  party  which  had  been  engaged  in  it  returned 
home,  and  Mr.  Clarke  at  once  began  the  preparation  of  a 
Report  designed  to  give  a  complete  and  thorough  account  of 
the  unexpectedly  important  and  interesting  results  of  the  first 
American  expedition  for  archaeological  investigation  in  the 
field  of  classical  antiquity.  Mr.  Clarke’s  Preliminary  Report 
had  already  given  evidence,  not  only  of  his  high  qualities  as 
an  investigator,  but  also  of  his  possession  of  learning  ade¬ 
quate  to  enable  him  to  set  forth  the  discoveries  made  by  the 
expedition  in  a  manner  fitted  to  meet  the  demands  of  modern 
scholarship. 

During  the  next  two  or  three  years  a  considerable  part  of 
the  work  was  accomplished  and  put  into  type. 

The  pages  which  now  follow  have  been  ready  for  publica¬ 
tion  for  more  than  ten  years.  But  the  publication  has  been 
delayed,  greatly  to  the  disappointment  of  the  Institute,  in 
hope  that  the  portion  remaining  to  be  written  might  be 
completed. 

By  a  series  of  calamities,  for  which  he  was  in  no  wise  per¬ 
sonally  responsible,  Mr.  Clarke  was  compelled  to  give  up  labor 


VI 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE . 


upon  the  Report,  and  to  devote  his  whole  time  to  other  pur¬ 
suits.  From  year  to  year  he  has  hoped  to  be  able  to  renew  his 
labors  on  the  work  which  it  was  the  object  of  his  just  ambi¬ 
tion  to  complete,  —  year  after  year  he  has  been  disappointed. 
It  has  finally  seemed  best  to  the  Council  of  the  Institute 
to  issue  that  portion  of  the  Report  which  has  been  lying 
ready  so  long,  in  order  that  the  account  which  it  contains 
of  the  results  of  the  expedition,  although  it  be  but  partial 
and  imperfect,  should  no  longer  remain  inaccessible.  They 
have  come  to  this  decision  with  reluctance,  both  on  Mr. 
Clarke’s  account  and  on  account  of  the  Institute.  It  is 
matter  of  serious  regret  that  a  full  record  of  the  results  of 
the  expedition  should  not  be  made  by  the  person  most  com¬ 
petent  to  describe  the  discoveries  and  to  exhibit  their  impor¬ 
tance.  The  Council  cannot  but  hope  that  Mr.  Clarke  may 
yet  find  opportunity  to  conclude  his  work. 

But,  unfortunate  as  the  delay  in  the  issue  of  the  Report 
has  been,  the  investigations  to  which  it  relates  have  not  lost 
interest.  The  peculiar  character  of  many  of  the  buildings 
at  Assos,  and  their  remarkable  preservation,  making  possible 
a  complete  recovery  of  the  plap  and  elevation  of  civic  struc¬ 
tures  quite  unique  in  design  and  plan,  give  to  the  work 
accomplished  there  such  permanent  importance  that  ten 
years  more  or  less  in  the  date  of  its  publication  are  of 
comparatively  small  concern. 

Meanwhile  it  is  proposed  to  publish  very  shortly,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Institute,  a  work  edited  by  Mr.  Francis  H. 
Bacon,  the  companion  of  Mr.  Clarke  in  the  Assos  expedition, 
which  shall  present  on  a  large  scale  the  plans  and  elevations 
of  the  more  important  edifices  investigated,  and  shall  give  all 
those  details  and  measurements  which  may  be  desired  by  the 
students  of  ancient  art,  and  especially  by  those  of  architecture. 
The  preparation  of  this  work,  in  which  Mr.  Bacon  has  re¬ 
ceived  the  valuable  assistance  of  Mr.  Robert  Koldewey,  who 
also  took  part  in  the  original  investigations,  will  afford  mate¬ 
rial  for  a  full  study  of  the  monuments  of  various  kinds  which 


LETTERS. 


Vll 


specially  distinguished  the  site  of  Assos,  and  will  be  a  con¬ 
tribution  to  classical  archaeology  of  unusual  novelty  and 
extent. 

The  letters  which  follow  this  Note  explain  themselves ;  they 
form  part  of  the  documentary  record  of  the  expedition. 

C.  E.  NORTON. 

February,  1898. 


Charles  Eliot  Norton,  Esq., 

President  of  the  Archeological  Institute  of  America. 

Dear  Sir,  — The  Boston  Society  of  Architects  has  charged  me 
with  the  agreeable  duty  of  conveying  to  you,  as  President  of  the 
American  Institute  of  Archaeology,  the  congratulation  of  the  profes¬ 
sion  upon  the  work  accomplished  by  your  expedition  to  Assos.  We 
desire  also,  through  you,  to  thank  our  brethren,  Messrs.  Clarke  and 
Bacon,  and  the  other  members  of  the  expedition,  by  whose  skill, 
energy,  and  fine  spirit  of  self-denial  this  valuable  acquisition  to  our 
knowledge  of  Greek  architecture  has  been  rendered  possible.  The 
contribution  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Architects  to  the  expenses  of 
Mr.  Clarke’s  first  expedition  in  search  of  new  evidence  concerning 
the  Doric  order  was  intended  as  an  expression  of  its  desire  to  know 
more  of  the  principles  underlying  the  development  of  Greek  archi¬ 
tectural  forms  ;  for  to  these  principles,  in  the  midst  of  the  complica¬ 
tions  and  sophistications  which  inevitably  beset  all  modern  works  of 
design,  we  must  continually  repair  for  correction,  inspiration,  and  re¬ 
freshment.  The  later  and  more  fruitful  expedition  was  the  logical 
continuation  of  the  first. 

These  successes,  therefore,  are  grateful  to  this  Society,  not  only 
because  they  seem  in  a  manner  to  justify  its  first  expenditure  of 
means,  but  principally  because  this  new  exposition  of  the  Greek  spirit 
has  proved  far  more  complete  than  the  most  sanguine  friends  of  the 
enterprise  had  anticipated.  It  has  shown  us  the  Greek  architect  ex¬ 
perimenting  with  forms,  and  profuse  in  invention,  yet  always  with  self- 
denial  and  a  just  reserve  of  force  ;  it  has  given  us,  perhaps,  the  best 
lesson  yet  derived  from  Greek  antiquity  in  the  grouping  of  buildings  ; 
it  has  thrown  new  light  upon  the  divine  virtue  of  simplicity  in  art ;  it 


VI 11 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


has  given  us  substantially  the  only  examples  of  the  practice  of  the 
Greeks  in  domestic  and  civic  works,  and,  in  short,  it  seems  to  have 
brought  nearer  to  our  sympathies  and  comprehension  that  spirit  which 
the  conditions  of  modern  architecture  require  as  a  corrective  and 
purifying  force.  We  therefore  anticipate  with  interest  the  moment 
when  the  results  of  this  expedition  shall  be  made  practically  available 
to  the  profession  in  the  forthcoming  Report,  which  we  hope  may  be 
as  full  and  complete  as  possible,  especially  in  respect  to  drawings. 

This  Society,  in  continuation  of  its  policy  of  contributing  to  the 
extent  of  its  limited  means  to  the  advancement  of  architectural  knowl¬ 
edge,  has  authorized  me  to  convey  to  you  its  offer  to  appropriate  the 
sum  of  five  hundred  dollars  towards  defraying  the  expenses  of  printing 
the  Report  of  the  Expedition  to  Assos,  and  to  indicate  its  intention 
to  raise  such  additional  sum,  if  any,  as  may  be  needed  for  the  pur¬ 
pose,  it  being  understood  that  the  total  amount  is  not  to  exceed  one 
thousand  dollars. 

Respectfully  yours, 

EDWARD  C.  CABOT,  President. 

Boston,  March  20,  1884. 


Edward  C.  Cabot,  Esq., 

President  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Architects. 

Dear  Sir,  —  I  have  had  the  pleasure  to-day  of  laying  before  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Archaeological  Institute  of  America  your 
letter  to  me  of  the  20th  instant,  and  I  am  charged  by  them  with  the 
expression  of  the  gratification  which  its  contents  have  given  them, 
and  of  their  grateful  acknowledgment  to  the  Boston  Society  of 
Architects  for  the  substantial  and  timely  contribution  it  proposes  to 
make  toward  defraying  the  expense  of  printing  the  second  Report  of 
the  Expedition  to  Assos.  The  income  of  the  Institute  is  so  much 
narrower  than  its  opportunities  for  service  in  its  field  of  work,  that 
such  a  contribution  is  especially  welcome.  Its  chief  value,  however, 
is  in  the  testimony  it  affords  of  the  sense  of  your  Society  of  the  im¬ 
portance  of  the  work  accomplished  by  the  expedition  to  Assos,  of  the 
novel  character  of  the  acquisitions  made  by  it  in  the  domain  of  Greek 


LETTERS. 


IX 


architecture,  and  of  the  permanent  worth  of  its  results  to  students  of 
the  art. 

This  testimony,  coming  from  a  body  so  eminently  qualified  to  speak 
with  authority  on  the  subject  as  the  Society  over  which  you  preside, 
and  expressed  by  you  in  terms  at  once  decisive  and  convincing,  while 
it  is  in  the  highest  degree  gratifying  to  the  Institute,  as  a  proof  that 
it  has  succeeded  thus  far  in  accomplishing  one  of  the  chief  ends  of 
its  existence,  is  equally  stimulating  to  it  to  undertake  fresh  investiga¬ 
tions  upon  classical  soil  which  may  make  still  further  additions  to  knowl¬ 
edge  of  that  ancient  art  which  remains  so  full  of  instruction  and 
interest  to  students  and  artists  of  the  present  time. 

The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Institute  recognize  their  past  debt 
to  the  Boston  Society  of  Architects  for  its  contribution  to  the  original 
expedition  of  Messrs.  Clarke  and  Bacon,  and  their  further  indirect 
but  essential  obligation  to  it  in  the  fact  that  these  gentlemen  were 
members  of  the  Society,  —  a  fact  which  gave  assurance  of  their  char¬ 
acter  and  ability.  The  Committee  will  have  pleasure  in  transmitting 
a  copy  of  your  letter  to  each  of  these  gentlemen.  They  venture  to 
request  you  to  bring  the  services  of  Mr.  Robert  Koldewey,  of  Ham¬ 
burg,  who  has  had  charge  of  some  of  the  most  important  investiga¬ 
tions  at  Assos,  to  the  attention  of  your  Society,  in  the  hope  that  it 
may  think  proper,  upon  consideration  of  his  part  in  the  joint  labors 
on  the  site,  to  convey  to  him  a  distinct  expression  of  its  appreciation 
of  the  excellence  of  his  work. 

The  Committee  desire  me  to  state  that  the  fact  that  the  means  for 
the  publication  of  the  forthcoming  Report  have  been  provided  by 
your  Society  will  be  stated  upon  its  titlepage,  and  your  letter  to  me 
will  be  printed  as  prefatory  to  the  Report  itself.  The  great  mass  of 
material  to  be  digested,  and  the  large  number  of  drawings  to  be  pre¬ 
pared  for  the  Report,  will  probably  delay  its  appearance  for  at  least  a 
year. 

1  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect,  faithfully  yours, 

CHARLES  ELIOT  NORTON, 

President  of  the  Archceological  Institute  of  America. 

Cambridge,  March  25,  1884. 


CONTENTS. 


- ♦ - 

* 

I. 

Page 

Course  of  the  Excavations .  i 

II. 

Acropolis  and  Temple . 40 

III. 

Temple  Sculptures  .  141 

IV. 

Date  of  the  Temple . 292 


Appendix  :  —  Relations  of  Modern  to  Ancient  Life 


335 


LIST  OF  CUTS  AND  PLATES. 


P  AGE 

1.  Archaic  Bronze  Arrow-head . . 

2.  Bronze  Arrow-head .  ^ 

3.  Iron  Mattock .  ^ 

4.  Plan  of  the  Temple  of  Assos.  —  Present  Condition  .  57 

5.  Stone  in  Foundations  of  Temple,  with  Bed-moulds 

for  Metal  Castings.  —  Isometric  .......  58 

6.  Employment  of  Lifting  Dog  in  laying  the  lower 

Steps.  —  Isometric . ‘ . fa 

7.  Pry-holds  and  Levers  employed  in  laying  the  Steps. 

—  Isometric . . 

8.  Perforation  of  the  lower  Step,  Eastern  Front  .  .  67 

9.  Detail  of  Mosaic  Pavement,  Southeastern  Corner  .  70 

10.  Outlines  of  Echinos  Curves,  Anta  Capital,  and 

Hawk’s-bill  Moulding  of  Corona . 8! 

11.  Upper  Surface  of  an  Abacus . 83 

12.  Section  of  the  Entablature  and  Coffered  Ceiling 

of  the  Pteroma . . 

13.  Fragments  of  inner  Epistyle  Beams,  showing  Shift- 

holes  and  Mason’s  Marks . g2 

14.  Triglyph,  Face  and  Side . ^5 

15.  Ends  of  Cornice  Blocks,  showing  Attachments  of 

Derrick  Tackle  :  A,  for  Looped  Rope  ;  B,  for 
Iron  Dog . p3 

16.  Cornice  Block,  as  tilted  in  Lifting.  —  Release  for 

Turning  Grapple . gg 

17.  Cornice  Block  from  Southeastern  Corner.  —  Upper 

Surface  and  End . IQ2 

18.  Rejected  Cornice  Block,  Recut  for  Employment  in 

Tympanon  Veil . . 

19.  Beam  from  the  Coffered  Ceiling  of  Pteroma  .  .  .  115 

20.  Beam  from  the  Coffered  Ceiling  of  Vestibule  .  .  117 

21.  Beam  from  the  Coffered  Ceiling  of  Pronaos  .  .  .  121 

22.  General  Plan  of  Coffered  Ceiling . 12s 


xiv  LIST  OF  CUTS  AND  PLATES. 

Page 

23.  Section  of  Pteroma . 124 

24.  Section  of  Vestibule  and  Pronaos . 124 

25.  Section  of  Vestibule  Ceiling  Beam,  showing  Lewis 

Tackle . 126 

26.  Fragment  of  Tile,  with  Ornamented  Edge,  from  a 

Course  interposed  between  lowest  Imbrices  and 
Corona . 129 

27.  Antefix.  —  From  a  Photograph . 130 

28.  Antefix  Section . 13 1 

29.  Corners  of  Imbrices,  roughly  cut  for  Jointing  .  .  133 

30.  Constructive  System  of  Pteroma.  —  Isometric  .  .  .  134 

31.  Fragment  of  Gutter.  —  From  a  Photograph  ...  135 

32.  Fragment  of  Gutter.  —  Section  and  Scale  ....  135 

33.  Fragment  of  Ridge  Acroterion . 136 

34.  Fragment  of  Acroterion.  —  Paw  of  Sphinx  or  Griffin  137 

35.  (Plate.)  Retreating  Centaurs . To  face  142 

36.  Human-legged  Centaur . 146 

37.  (Plate.)  Heracles  and  Pholos . To  face  150 

38.  Herakles  and  the  Centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe  .  .  165 

39.  Fragment  of  a  Metope.  —  Hind  Legs  of  a  Centaur  .  171 

40.  (Plate.)  Heraldic  Sphinxes.  Western  Facade. 

To  face  172 

41.  (Plate.)  Heraldic  Sphinxes.  Eastern  Facade. 

To  face  173 

42.  Ionic  Capital,  with  Upright  Volutes . 176 

43.  Couching  Sphinx  on  Sherd  from  Ophrynion  ....  182 

44.  Squatting  Sphinx.  —  Figurine  from  Aqkieui  ....  183 

45.  A,  Archaic  Coin  of  Assos.  —  B,  Bronze  Head  of 

Griffin,  found  at  Olympia . 187 

46.  Coin  of  Assos . 188 

47.  Coin  of  Assos . 189 

48.  Mosaic  Pavement  from  a  Building  South  of  the 

Agora,  showing  Eagle-headed  and  Leopard-headed 

Griffins . 192 

48a.  Heraldic  Sphinx  upon  engraved  Seal,  found  at 

Assos . 200 

49.  Epistyle  Relief  from  the  Temple . 210 

50.  The  Struggle  of  Herakles  with  Triton . 237 

51.  Epistyle  Relief  from  the  Temple . 241 

52.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  Northernmost  Interco- 

LUMNIATION  OF  THE  EASTERN  FACADE . 250 

53.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  Southernmost  Interco- 

LUMNIATION  OF  THE  WESTERN  FACADE . 252 


LIST  OF  CUTS  AND  PLATES.  XV 

Page 

54.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  Southernmost  Interco- 

LUMNIATION  OF  THE  EASTERN  FACADE . 253 

55.  Schematic  View  of  the  Southeastern  Corner  of  the 

Entablature.  —  Isometric . 256 

56.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  Central  Intercolumnia- 

tion  of  the  Western  Facade . 261 

57.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  Central  Intercolumnia- 

tion  of  the  Eastern  Facade . 261 

58.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  Second  Intercolumniation 

from  the  South  of  the  Eastern  Facade  ....  263 

59.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  Easternmost  Intercolum¬ 

niation  of  the  Southern  Side . 265 

60.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  Second  Intercolumniation 

from  the  East  of  the  Southern  Side . 267 

61.  Reconstruction  of  the  Eastern  Corner  of  the  South¬ 

ern  Side,  showing  three  Epistyle  Blocks  relating 
to  the  Centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe . 268 

62.  Reconstruction  , of  the  Southern  Half  of  the  East¬ 

ern  Facade,  showing  two  Epistyle  Blocks  relat¬ 
ing  to  the  Centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe,  and  the 
Central  Panel  with  the  Coat  of  Arms  of  Assos  .  269 

63.  Restoration  of  the  Central  Acroterion,  the  Re¬ 

maining  Fragment  dotted  and  shaded  .  271 

64.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  Second  Intercolumniation 

from  the  North  of  the  Western  Facade  ....  271 

65.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  Westernmost  Intercolum¬ 

niation  of  the  Northern  Side . 273 

66.  Epistyle  Block  from  the  Western  Group  of  the 

Northern  Side . 274 

67.  Epistyle  Block  from  the  Westernmost  Intercolum¬ 

niation  of  the  Northern  Side . 275 

68.  Epistyle  Block  from  the  Western  Group  of  the 

Northern  Side . 276 

69.  Fragment  of  an  Epistyle  Block  of  the  Series  re¬ 

lating  TO  THE  ERYMANTHIAN  BOAR . 277 

70.  Epistyle  Block  from  the  Entablature  of  the  Cella, 

ABOVE  THE  PRONAOS . 278 

71.  Epistyle  Block  forming  the  Pendant  to  that  shown 

in  Figure  70 . 279 

72.  Metope  of  the  Eastern  Entablature  occupying  the 

Fourth  Field  from  the  South . 285 

73.  Metope  showing  the  Coat  of  Arms  of  Assos  .  285 


XVI 


LIST  OF  CUTS  AND  PLATES. 


74- 


75- 

76. 

77- 

78. 


79- 

80. 

81. 

82. 
83- 


Metope  RELATED  IN  SUBJECT  TO  THE  SERIES  OF  THE 

Erymanthian  Boar . 

Fragment  of  a  Metope,  related  in  Subject  to  the 
Series  of  the  Centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe .  .  .  . 

Metope  of  uncertain  Location  and  Subject  .... 
Fragmentary  Metope  of  uncertain  Location  and 

Subject . 

Plan  of  the  Epistyle  of  the  Temple  of  Assos,  show¬ 
ing  in  Black  the  Position  of  the  known  Reliefs  . 

Plan  of  the  Temple  of  Aigina . 

Plan  of  the  Theseion  at  Athens . 

Plan  of  the  Temple  of  Assos . 

Plan  of  the  later  Temple  of  Sounion . 

Diagrammatic  Plan  and  Dimensions  of  the  Temple 
of  Assos . 


Page 


285 

286 
286 

286 

289 

302 

3°3 

304 

305 


320 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

COURSE  OF  EXCAVATIONS. 

IN  October,  1 88 1,  the  digging  of  the  first  year  at  Assos 
was  brought  to  a  close  by  the  unwelcome  official  inter¬ 
ruption  to  which  reference  has  been  made  in  the  First  Report.1 
After  the  retreat  of  the  would-be  commissioner,  Mr.  Bacon  and 
Mr.  Diller  remained  upon  the  site  with  the  writer,  until  the 
beginning  of  December.  By  that  time  the  winter  had  fairly 
set  in.  The  prevalent  north  winds  were  so  heavy  that  few 
of  the  small  vessels  of  the  country  found  their  way  to  the 
port  of  Behram,  while  none  were  ready  to  venture  from  it. 
It  was  therefore  necessary  to  leave  the  coast  of  the  Troad  in 
the  Myzethra ,  the  open  sail-boat  belonging  to  the  expedition,2 
and  the  passage  of  the  Gulf  of  Adramyttion  was  attended 
with  much  difficulty.  The  little  craft,  being  heavily  laden  with 
chests  of  the  specimens  collected  by  the  indefatigable  geolo¬ 
gist,  shipped  so  much  water  over  her  low  gunwale,  that  two 
Greeks,  who  had  been  admitted  as  passengers,  gave  up  bailing 
in  despair,  and,  wrapping  themselves  in  their  blankets,  lay 

1  Clarke  (Joseph  Thacher),  Report  on  the  Investigations  at  Assos,  1S81. 
Papers  of  the  Archaeological  Institute  of  America,  Classical  Series,  I.,  Boston, 
1882,  p.  44. 

2  Report,  p.  1 31. 


I 


2 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


down  in  the  wet.  The  Musconisi1  and  Tokmakia2  Islands 
afforded  some  shelter  during  the  latter  part  of  the  voyage, 
and  in  the  harbor  of  Mytilene  the  full  force  of  the  gale  was 
not  felt. 

This  northern  wind  is  one  of  those  whose  effect  upon  the 
Lesbian  capital  is  described  by  Vitruvius  3  as  most  deplora¬ 
ble.  What  he  says  of  it  is,  at  least,  true  in  December :  when 
the  Septentrio  blows,  the  inhabitants  do  not  lounge  about  the 
streets  because  of  the  biting  cold.  As  part  of  the  town  is 
built  upon  a  neck  of  swampy  land,  and  as  in  antiquity  a  canal 
ran  through  its  midst,  Mytilene  piay  not  always  have  been  so 
salubrious  as  the  description  of  Cicero 4  and  the  charming 
account  of  Longos  5  would  lead  us  to  believe.  It  is  possible 
that  some  unfavorable  report  had  reached  the  Roman  archi¬ 
tect,  which  he,  in  his  desire  to  exemplify  the  disadvantages 
attending  an  unwise  orientation  of  streets,  has  curiously 
exaggerated  and  distorted.  Still,  the  north-northwest  wind, 
coming  from  the  interior  of  this  famous  and  pleasant  island,6 
and  the  south  wind,  wafted  across  the  narrow  strait  from  the 
orange  groves  of  neighboring  Chios,  can  hardly  have  occa¬ 
sioned  the  coughs  and  distempers  which  Vitruvius  attributed 
to  them. 

In  exceptionally  rough  weather  the  regular  steamers  from 
Smyrna  to  Constantinople  do  not  pass  through  the  channel 
between  Lesbos  and  the  mainland,  but  put  directly  out  into 
the  open  Aegean  from  Cape  Kara  Burnu.7  This  being  the 

1  The  ancient  Hekatonnesoi,  the  islands  of  Apollo  Hekatos. 

2  Four  small  and  uninhabited  islands  lying  in  the  Channel  of  Mytilene,  to 
the  southeast  of  Cape  Argenon,  the  northeastern  point  of  Lesbos. 

8  Vitruvius,  I.  6.  i. 

4  Cicero  de  Lege  Agrar.,  II.  16. 

5  Longos,  I.  i. 

6  “  Insula  nobilis  et  amoena.”  Tacitus,  Ann.>  VI.  3. 

7  The  ancient  Cape  Melaina. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1882. 


3 


case  at  the  time,  the  members  of  the  expedition  took  advan¬ 
tage  of  the  passage  to  Constantinople  kindly  offered  them  by 
the  captain  of  a  Turkish  man-of-war,  then  about  to  leave  the 
island. 

The  three  winter  months  were  spent  in  the  preparation  of 
the  First  Report,  and  the  drawings  which  it  contained. 

The  work  of  archaeological  investigation  during  the  second 
and  third  years,  1882  and  1883,  was  carried  on  by  Mr.  Francis 
Henry  Bacon,  Mr.  Robert  Koldewey,  and  the  writer.  Particu¬ 
lar  acknowledgment  is  due  to  Mr.  Koldewey,  —  an  architect 
of  the  Prussian  government  and  a  thoroughly  trained  archae¬ 
ologist,  —  who,  during  the  first  year  of  his  stay,  devoted  his 
services  to  the  undertaking  without  remuneration.  The  sur¬ 
veys  and  restorations  made  at  Assos  were,  roughly  speaking, 
so  divided  that  Mr.  Bacon,  besides  general  topographical  work, 
investigated  the  Necropolis,  the  Gymnasion,  and  the  Greek 
Bridge.  Mr.  Koldewey  was  occupied  with  the  Agora  and  the 
buildings  in  its  vicinity,  including  the  Stoa,  Bouleuterion,  and 
Greek  Bath  ;  while  the  writer,  besides  keeping  a  general 
chronicle  of  all  the  results  obtained  by  the  expedition,  made 
special  studies  of  the  fortifications  of  the  city,  the  Temple  and 
the  Mosque  upon  the  Acropolis,  and  the  Theatre  and  Atrium 
of  the  lower  town. 

Mr.  Joseph  Silas  Diller,  then  holding  a  scholarship  of 
Harvard  University,  returned  to  the  Troad  in  1882  for  ten 
weeks,  and  completed  his  geological  studies  of  the  country. 
John  R.  S.  Sterrett,  Ph.  D.,  to  whose  charge  the  editing  of 
the  inscriptions  discovered  at  Assos  had  been  confided,  made, 
during  May  and  June,  1883,  a  careful  search  for  epigraphical 
materials  upon  the  site,  while  studying  also  the  inscribed 
stones  previously  removed  to  the  port.  Mr.  John  Henry 
Haynes,  renewing  his  voluntary  services,  took  nearly  one 


4 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


hundred  and  fifty  photographs  of  the  antiquities  discovered, 
and  of  picturesque  features  of  the  city  and  its  vicinity  which 
lent  themselves  to  this  manner  of  representation. 

During  the  first  three  weeks  of  the  second  year  the  excava¬ 
tions  were  under  the  charge  of  Mr.  Bacon  alone,  the  writer’s 
return  to  Assos  having  been  delayed  until  the  end  of  March 
by  the  preparation  of  the  First  Report.  Digging  was  recom¬ 
menced  on  the  8th  of  March,  1882,  with  ten  men,  —  a  number 
gradually  increased  during  the  fortnight  following  to  twenty- 
five.  They  were  set  to  work  in  the  Street  of  Tombs,  where  the 
substructure  of  the  large  ornamented  sarcophagus  (No.  XVI.) 
was  first  freed  from  the  earth.  The  coffer  itself  had  been 
exposed  during  the  excavations  of  the  preceding  year,1  but 
the  extent  and  the  important  character  of  the  monument  had 
not  then  become  apparent.  The  summit  of  the  pedestal  had 
been  supposed  to  be  the  pavement  of  the  street,  which  was,  in 
reality,  2.3  metres  below  it,  so  that  more  than  one  half  of  the 
structure  still  remained  to  be  excavated.  The  altar  which 
adjoined  the  pedestal  was  found  lying  directly  upon  the  pave¬ 
ment,  while  fragments  of  the  sculptured  sides  of  the  sarcopha¬ 
gus  were  deeply  buried  in  the  earth,  showing  that  the  ancient 
Greek  road  was  kept  clear  from  debris  at  the  time  when  the 
sarcophagus  was  broken  into.  A  further  indication  of  the 
comparatively  late  use  of  the  way  is  the  fact  that  the  stones 
at  the  base  of  the  pedestal,  before  being  covered  by  the  earth 
washed  down  from  the  upper  terraces  and  from  the  city 
walls,  had  been  shattered  with  a  heavy  hammer,  in  order  to 
extract  the  lead  with  which  the  cramps  of  the  steps  had  been 
set :  a  vandalism  hardly  to  be  ascribed  to  a  time  before  fire¬ 
arms  had  come  into  general  use.  The  lid  of  the  sarcophagus 
seems  to  have  remained  balanced  upon  the  broken  sides  until 


1  Report,  p.  127,  figs.  33  and  34. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1882. 


5 


very  recently,  as  the  enormous  stone,  —  one  of  the  heaviest 
in  Assos,  —  was  found  lying  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth. 
A  Doric  column,  formerly  standing  upon  the  eastern  inner 
corner  of  the  pedestal,  lay  at  a  considerable  depth,  broken  in 
two  by  its  fall.  Several  of  the  steps  adjoining  the  substruc¬ 
ture  of  the  tomb,  and  once  leading  from  the  paved  street  to 
the  terrace  above,  were  still  in  position.  Two  archaic  Greek 
pithoi  (Nos.  6  and  7),  lying  close  to  the  native  rock,  had,  at 
the  time  of  the  erection  of  the  tomb,  been  cut  through  in 
digging  trenches  for  the  foundation  walls  of  the  pedestal  and 
for  those  of  the  terrace  behind  it.  The  Greek  builders,  how¬ 
ever,  evidently  disturbed  these  archaic  jars  as  little  as  possible; 
the  remaining  bones,  although  covered  with  earth  and  stones, 
not  having  been  moved. 

In  the  first  year  the  excavations  in  the  Necropolis,  carried 
on  for  little  more  than  a  week,  had  been  almost  entirely 
restricted  to  the  imposing  monuments  near  the  main  gateway. 
Few  sarcophagi  were  buried  in  that  vicinity  after  the  erection 
of  the  vaulted  receiving-tombs, — the  foundations  of  which 
had  necessitated  the  removal  of  all  earlier  remains.  Hence 
no  discoveries  of  note  had  been  made  in  the  cemetery  dur¬ 
ing  1881.  The  first  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  un¬ 
opened  sarcophagi  unearthed  in  1882  and  1883,  were  found 
at  the  north  of  the  large  ornamented  sarcophagus.  The 
objects  in  one  of  these  monolithic  coffers  (No.  2),  notably 
three  vessels  of  fine  transparent  glass,  were  among  the  most 
valuable  discoveries  of  the  kind  made  by  the  expedition. 

Towards  the  end  of  March  a  number  of  trenches  were 
opened  on  the  lowest  —  the  western  —  side  of  the  Necropo¬ 
lis,  and  were  subsequently  carried  across  all  the  terraces  in 
a  northeasterly  direction.  The  original  levels  of  the  street, 
and  the  position  of  the  larger  burial  enclosures,  were  thus 
determined.  This  digging  brought  to  light  many  ostothekai, 


6 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


containing  the  crumbling  fragments  of  burnt  bones.  These 
remarkable  urns,  of  great  age,  were  found  only  within  a  lim¬ 
ited  area,  and  always  rested  directly  upon  the  native  rock. 
So  closely  together  did  they  lie,  and  so  delicate  and  fragile 
was  the  pottery  of  which  they  were  made,  that  it  was  neces¬ 
sary  to  use  knives  for  the  removal  of  the  earth  around  them, 
after  the  two  specimens  first  found  had  been  shattered  by  the 
heavy  picks. 

In  the  mean  while,  plaster  casts  of  those  temple  sculptures 
which  had  been  discovered  during  the  first  year  were  made 
by  a  marble  worker  from  the  island  of  Tinos,  Jani  Laludis, 
who  had  been  with  Dr.  Humann  at  Pergamon.1  Three  sets 
of  these  casts  were  prepared,  and  forwarded  respectively  to  the 
Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  the  Louvre,  and  the  Museum  of 
Berlin.  But  as  the  only  plaster  to  be  procured  was  of  inferior 
quality,  and  the  inadequate  appliances  at  hand  could  not  pre¬ 
vent  the  warping  of  the  glue  moulds,  the  results  were  far 
from  satisfactory.  This  is  the  more  to  be  regretted,  as  it  is 
now  impossible  to  obtain  new  moulds  from  those  reliefs 
which,  in  the  official  division,  fell  to  the  share  of  the  Turkish 
government. 

Several  days  in  March  were  so  cold  that  work  had  to  be 
suspended.  On  the  15th  of  the  month  a  storm  of  snow  and 
hail  drove  the  workmen  from  the  trenches,  and  even  as  late 
as  the  8th  of  April  the  temperature  was  so  low  that  standing 
water  in  the  lowlands  of  the  Troad  was  covered  with  ice. 
The  want  of  comfortable  quarters  at  Behram  during  this 
inclement  season,  together  with  the  attractions  of  the  Easter 
festival  upon  the  island  of  Mytilene,  caused  the  Greek  labor¬ 
ers  to  desert  the  site  in  a  body,  and  excavations  could  not  be 
recommenced  until  their  return  on  the  17th  of  April.  Dur- 

1  Humann  (Carl ),  Die  Ergebnisse  der  Ausgrafomgen  zu  Pergamon.  Geschichte 
der  Untemehmimg ,  Berlin,  1880,  p.  20. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1882. 


7 


ing  this  interval  the  surveys  and  measurements  were  dili¬ 
gently  carried  on.  The  entire  field  of  ruins  was  searched 
foot  by  foot,  and  the  writer  had  the  pleasure  of  finding  the 
third  block  of  the  sphinxes  from  the  western  front  of  the 
temple,  lying  half  buried  in  the  earth,  face  downwards,  upon 
the  slope  of  the  Acropolis.  New  wheelbarrows  were  made 
by  carpenters  in  Molivo,  and  the  blunted  pickaxes  were  sharp¬ 
ened  by  a  gypsy  blacksmith  who  had  encamped  in  the  neigh¬ 
boring  village  of  Pasha-Kieui. 

After  the  Easter  holidays  so  many  men  were  engaged  that 
it  was  often  found  impossible  to  collect  enough  small  money 
to  make  out  the  weekly  wages.  A  great  part  of  the  business 
of  this  primitive  country  is  carried  on  by  barter,  and  all  the 
small  coins  of  silver  and  copper  obtainable  from  the  bakhals 
of  Behram  and  the  neighboring  villages  were  not  sufficient 
for  the  needs  of  the  expedition,  —  obliged  on  every  pay-day 
to  disburse  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  med- 
jids  in  small  sums.  As  the  expedient  of  paying  several  men 
together  with  a  gold  piece  proved  unsatisfactory,  the  example 
of  the  parochial  churches  of  Mytilene  was  followed,  and  a 
quantity  of  paper  money,  of  small  denominations,  was  issued 
by  the  expedition.  The  bits  of  green  cardboard,  signed  and 
stamped,  were  readily  accepted,  and  circulated  so  widely 
throughout  the  southern  Troad  that  some  difficulty  was  ex¬ 
perienced,  at  the  close  of  the  work,  in  calling  in  the  out¬ 
standing  amount. 

When  the  digging  was  recommenced,  the  entire  force  was 
employed  upon  the  terrace  before  the  Stoa.  The  temple  at 
the  western  end  of  the  Agora  was  thoroughly  examined,  and 
the  position  of  the  neighboring  streets  and  pavements  deter¬ 
mined  sufficiently  to  enable  Mr.  Koldewey  to  begin  his  detailed 
survey  of  the  Stoa  and  the  adjoining  buildings.  The  mar¬ 
ble  pedestal  of  a  statue  with  an  inscription  to  the  Emperor 


8 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Constantine  (II.  a.  d.  337-340)  was  found,  during  these  in¬ 
vestigations,  lying  buried  beneath  the  debris  accumulated  in 
the  street  upon  the  north  of  the  temple.  A  new  road  was 
made  from  the  eastern  side  of  the  Acropolis  to  the  port,  and 
the  sphinx  relief  was  dragged  down  upon  the  sledge. 

Awaiting  the  advance  of  the  survey,  the  men  were  again 
removed  to  the  Necropolis,  where  the  so-called  Larichos 
enclosure  was  thoroughly  excavated.  The  work  here  re¬ 
sulted  in  the  discovery  of  numerous  sarcophagi  and  cinerary 
urns,  the  former  containing  pottery,  glass,  strigils,  coins,  and 
some  few  ornaments  of  gold  and  silver.  Together  with  these 
were  the  two  best  preserved  and  most  ancient  skulls  found  at 
Assos,  —  discoveries  of  far  greater  value  to  science  than  could 
have  been  the  richest  treasures  of  precious  metal.  The  one, 
antedating  the  Persian  war,  was  in  a  large  pithos  (No.  5)  ; 
the  other,  referable  to  the  second  century  b.  c.,  in  a  mono¬ 
lithic  sarcophagus  (No.  32)  of  the  Larichos  enclosure.  Sev¬ 
eral  inscribed  stones  were  also  unearthed.  On  the  22d  of 
April,  thirteen,  and  on  the  24th,  no  less  than  seventeen 
previously  unopened  sarcophagi  were  brought  to  light. 

In  the  following  week  excavations  were  resumed  upon  the 
Acropolis,  where  was  found  the  largest  of  the  epistyle  reliefs 
of  the  temple,  —  the  four  centaurs  with  horses’  fore-legs.  The 
workmen  remained  upon  the  Acropolis  until  the  13th  of  May, 
the  digging  being  further  rewarded  by  a  second  block  of  the 
centaur  relief,  the  paw  of  the  acroterion  griffin,  an  important 
fragment  of  the  ornamented  terra-cotta  gutter  of  the  temple, 
and  an  inscription  containing  an  inventory  of  the  chattels  of 
the  building  itself. 

Greek  festivals  occurring  during  the  first  part  of  May  inter¬ 
rupted  the  work  for  several  days.  This  opportunity  was 
taken  by  Mr.  Koldewey  and  by  the  writer  to  make  a  journey 
through  a  previously  unvisited  tract  in  the  interior  of  the 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS; '188%. 


9 


Troad,  lying  between  Assos  and  Lecton  on  the  south,  and 
Alexandreia  Troas  and  Neandreia  on  the  north.  Besides  the 
ruins  of  the  three  towns  last  mentioned,  those  of  Sminthe, 
Tragasa,  and  Larissa,  were  explored,  as  well  as  those  of  sev¬ 
eral  ancient  villlages  the  names  of  which  are  not  known, — j 
especial  attention  being  devoted  to  their  bearing  upon  the 
remains  at  Assos.  The  most  important  discovery  was  that 
of  the  site  of  Polymedion,  on  the  coast,  opposite  Methymna. 
A  month  later  instruments  were  brought  to  this  interesting 
locality,  which  was  carefully  surveyed,  some  digging  being 
necessary  in  order  to  follow  the  circuit  of  the  fortifications, 
and  to  ascertain  the  extent  of  the  sacred  grove  which  occu¬ 
pied  the  summit  of  the  Acropolis  in  place  of  the  customary 
temple.  Eight  days  were  devoted  to  these  investigations  at 
Polymedion,  the  results  of  which  will  be  given  in  a  separate 
publication  of  the  Archaeological  Institute. 

On  the  17th  of  May  excavations  were  begun  at  the  east¬ 
ern  end  of  the  Agora,  the  foundations  of  the  Bouleuterion 
being  laid  bare,  while  the  stairways  at  the  south  and  west 
were  cleared.  A  mass  of  debris  was  removed  from  the 
Greek  cistern  on  a  lower  terrace,  the  existence  of  which  had 
become  known  during  the  first  year.1  Within  this  subter¬ 
ranean  vault  were  discovered,  in  a  fine  state  of  preservation, 
the  marble  head  of  a  heroic  statue,  and  several  additional 
fragments  of  the  inscribed  stele  published  as  No.  3  in  the 
First  Report.2  The  accumulated  earth  was  found  to  be  mixed 
with  many  sherds  of  water  vessels  of  the  Byzantine  period, 
and  with  the  bones  of  domestic  animals.  It  was  removed 
through  the  narrow  orifice  by  means  of  baskets  and  ropes, 
and  was  carefully  sifted  in  the  open  air. 

1  Report,  p.  37. 

2  Report,  Appendix,  No.  3.  Also,  Sterrett  (John  Robert  Sitlington),  Inscrip¬ 
tions  of  Assos ;  Archaeological  Institute  of  America,  Boston,  1885,  No.  XXVIII. 


IO 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE . 


The  Bouleuterion  proved  to  be  a  construction  of  much  in¬ 
terest  and  importance.  Upon  its  plan  were  discovered  sev¬ 
eral  inscribed  stones,  some  of  which  had  been  built  into  the 
diagonal  walls  of  a  late  restoration.  All  of  the  men  could 
not  be  employed  upon  this  spot,  and  a  part  of  the  gang  was 
removed  to  the  front  of  the  Stoa  and  to  the  terraces  below  its 
retaining  walls.  The  detailed  examination  of  the  long  col¬ 
onnade,  the  place  of  assemblage  before  the  bema,  and  the 
ramps  and  steps  leading  to  the  upper  town,  was  a  work  of 
great  extent,  which  thenceforth  received  uninterrupted  atten¬ 
tion  for  more  than  a  year,  two  or  three  men  being  always 
here  employed  to  clear  the  pavements,  stairways,  pedestals, 
and  water-courses,  and  to  aid  in  the  surveys  and  measure¬ 
ments.  The  intimate  acquaintance  thus  obtained  with  the 
closely  connected  group  of  structures  surrounding  the  market¬ 
place  has  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  results  of 
the  investigations. 

During  the  latter  days  of  May  and  the  first  week  of  June 
the  greater  part  of  the  force  was  engaged  at  the  theatre,  the 
thorough  investigation  of  which  occupied  twenty  men  for 
three  weeks.  The  marble  columns  which  supported  the 
stage,  the  water-works  for  cooling  and  draining  the  enclosure, 
and  both  the  vomitoria,  were  thus  discovered,  while  a  con¬ 
siderable  extent  of  the  seats  and  passages  of  the  auditorium, 
and  of  the  encircling  stairs  and  streets  outside  the  structure, 
were  freed  from  earth.  On  the  completion  of  this  task  most 
of  the  laborers  were  again  set  to  work  in  the  Necropolis. 
Only  a  few  remained  within  the  town,  where,  on  the  ioth  of 
June,  they  had  the  good  fortune  to  bring  to  light  the  longest 
inscription  found  at  Assos,  buried  beneath  the  pavement  of 
a  Christian  apse  built  into  the  small  temple  at  the  western 
end  of  the  Agora. 

While  excavating  those  monumental  tombs  and  burial  en- 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1882. 


1 1 


closures  which  were  situated  at  some  distance  from  the  prin¬ 
cipal  gate,  thirty  unopened  sarcophagi  (Nos.  52  to  82)  were 
found.  The  number  of  cinerary  urns  was  by  this  time  nine¬ 
teen  ;  of  pithoi,  seven.  The  coffers  contained  the  usual 
quantity  of  small  articles ;  the  figurini,  the  coins  of  Assos, 
and  the  neckband,  ring,  and  beads  of  gold,  belonging  to  this 
series,  all  being  of  especial  value. 

Notwithstanding  the  heat  and  stifling  dust  of  July  and 
August,  the  excavations  were  actively  carried  on,  the  number 
of  men  being  gradually  increased  to  forty-one.  The  outfit 
of  the  expedition  did  not  furnish  picks  and  wheelbarrows  for 
more.  After  the  27th  of  June  this  force  was  directed  to  the 
most  extensive  task  of  the  undertaking,  namely,  the  thorough 
examination  of  the  enormous  mass  of  earth  and  stones  which 
had  accumulated  beneath  the  terrace  of  the  Agora,  between 
its  retaining  wall  and  the  upper  seats  of  the  theatre.  For 
nearly  ten  weeks,  until  the  9th  of  September,  the  whole  at¬ 
tention  of  the  expedition  was  directed  to  this  locality,  from 
which  much  had  been  expected.  There  was,  indeed,  every 
probability  that  many  antique  remains  would  be  found  in  this 
enormous  heap  of  rubbish,  where  all  the  public  records  and 
works  of  art  which  must  once  have  stood  upon  the  Agora  and 
in  the  adjoining  buildings  would  naturally  have  been  cast 
by  pillagers  of  the  city.  The  experience  of  all  previous  in¬ 
vestigators  upon  ancient  sites  had  shown  that  considerable 
deposits  of  antiques,  especially  fragments  of  sculpture  and 
inscriptions,  existed  in  the  chutes  formed  by  the  overthrow 
of  the  smaller  monuments  adorning  such  centres  of  civic  life. 
In  so  far  as  the  earth  beneath  the  Agora  of  Assos  had  been 
examined  during  the  first  year,  the  results  had  borne  out  this 
presumption.  Almost  all  the  inscriptions  published  in  the 
first  Report,  among  them  the  valuable  bronze  tablet  with  the 
oath  taken  by  the  Assians  on  the  accession  of  Caligula,  were 


12 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


found  in  the  ruins  of  Byzantine  buildings,  situated  just  below 
the  Bouleuterion.  But,  however  well  grounded,  these  expec¬ 
tations  were  almost  entirely  disappointed,  during  the  long 
work  of  the  second  year.  The  movable  objects  discovered, 
marble  carvings,  inscriptions,  and  the  like,  were  few,  —  in 
themselves  not  sufficient  to  repay  the  expense  of  the  work. 

In  architectural  respects,  on  the  other  hand,  this  field  was 
eminently  productive.  At  the  east  were  found  two  rooms, 
*  paved  with  exceptionally  fine  and  early  mosaics,  the  one  rep¬ 
resenting  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  city,  two  crouching  griffins, 
the  other  a  vender  of  Cupids,  with  Nikes  and  tripods  at  either 
side.  The  monumental  flight  of  steps  leading  from  the  street 
below  to  the  middle  of  the  Agora,  the  Heroon,  and,  above  all, 
the  unique  Greek  Bath,  with  its  three  stories  surmounted  by 
a  broad  colonnade,  must  be  considered  among  the  most  strik¬ 
ing  results  of  the  expedition. 

Five  of  the  nine  weeks  were  devoted  to  this  edifice.  The 
greater  part  of  the  cisterns,  and  three  of  the  lower  chambers 
were  thoroughly  excavated.  This  was  a  work  of  considerable 
difficulty,  as  the  heavy  stones  of  the  superstructure  entirely 
covered  the  plan.  Near  the  northwestern  corner,  on  the  level 
of  the  Agora,  was  found  the  remarkable  standard  of  roofing 
tiles,  but  no  objects  of  interest  were  brought  to  light  within 
the  building  itself. 

On  the  south  of  the  adjoining  street  the  remains  of  a  Ro¬ 
man  bath  were  discovered.  These  had  been  too  much  injured 
by  their  continued  employment  during  Byzantine  ages,  and  es¬ 
pecially  by  the  reconstruction  of  the  chief  halls  as  a  Christian 
church,  to  warrant  the  expenditure  of  much  time  and  labor 
in  their  exploration.  Still,  four  chambers  were  excavated 
which  appeared  to  have  been  buried  at  an  earlier  epoch  than 
the  rest.  In  them  were  found  the  fragments  of  two  inscrip¬ 
tions,  dedicating  the  bath  and  its  belongings  to  Julia  Aphro- 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1882. 


13 


dite,  and  thus  giving  an  accurate  date  for  the  construction. 
The  workmen  highly  approved  of  researches  in  this  vicinity, 
as  they  were  allowed  to  carry  off  such  of  the  large  coarse 
paving  tiles  and  drain  pipes  as  were  of  no  value  in  the  inves¬ 
tigation.  At  the  end  of  the  day  each  of  the  Greeks  went 
down  to  the  port  laden  with  as  much  of  this  earthenware  as 
he  could  carry  upon  his  shoulders.  The  tiles  were  used  to 
pave  bakers’  ovens ;  the  pipes,  as  gutters  for  roofs.  When 
the  writer  passed  along  the  northern  coast  of  the  island  of 
Mytilene,  some  months  afterwards,  every  village  seemed  to 
be  thus  provided. 

In  the  caldarium  of  the  bath  the  space  between  the  sus- 
pensurae,  beneath  the  floor,  was  found  to  be  still  filled  with 
fine  wood  ashes,  which,  being  whirled  into  the  air  by  the 
high  winds,  covered  everything  in  the  neighborhood  with  a 
thick  white  coat.  It  was  a  picturesque  sight,  at  nightfall 
after  work  in  this  locality,  to  see  the  men  standing  in  a  long 
row  on  the  large  stones  of  the  ancient  mole  which  still  pro¬ 
ject  above  the  water.  Here  they  washed  before  their  evening 
meal,  which,  like  the  laborers  of  classic  antiquity,  they  not 
unfrequently  ate  in  the  dark. 

On  the  4th  of  September,  as  the  funds  at  the  disposal  of 
the  expedition  ran  low,  it  was  necessary  to  dismiss  a  great 
number  of  the  men.  A  week  later,  those  remaining  were 
transferred  to  the  Gymnasion  and  its  vicinity ;  but  on  the 
1 8th,  many  of  these  had  also  to  be  sent  away.  During  Octo¬ 
ber  only  seven  men  were  employed,  chiefly  in  removing  small 
banks  of  earth,  and  in  aiding  the  surveys  and  detailed  meas¬ 
urements.  In  an  undertaking  directed  merely  towards  treas¬ 
ure-trove,  such  a  diminution  in  the  number  of  laborers  would 
have  been  equivalent  to  an  entire  cessation  of  work.  This 
was  not  the  case  at  Assos.  The  delay  rendered  it  possible 
for  the  explorers,  released  from  the  superintendence  of  the  dig- 


14 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


ging,  to  carry  on  the  investigations  necessary  for  determining 
the  character  of  the  most  recent  discoveries.  The  members 
of  the  expedition  were  at  no  time  more  busily  or  more  prof¬ 
itably  employed  than  during  these  weeks,  when  the  results 
previously  obtained  were  collected  and  systematized. 

Assos  in  this  respect  presented  peculiar  difficulties.  The 
degree  of  demolition  was  such  as  to  make  it  seem,  at  first 
sight,  that  architectural  investigations  were  here  altogether 
hopeless.  The  walls  within  the  city  had  everywhere  been 
levelled  to  the  present  surface  of  the  earth,  and  in  those  cases 
where  the  buildings  were  elevated  upon  artificial  terraces  the 
foundations  themselves  had  been  washed  away  by  torrents  of 
winter  rain.  Throughout  the  entire  city,  less  than  half  a  dozen 
columns  were  still  erect,  and  even  these  were  without  entabla¬ 
tures  and  capitals.  Not  one  stone  remained  in  position  above 
the  steps  of  the  great  temple.  Retaining  walls  and  ramparts, 
sufficiently  heavy  to  withstand  the  wanton  destruction  of  man, 
had  been  thrown  out  of  position  by  the  many  severe  earth¬ 
quakes  which  Assos  has  experienced.  An  enormous  mass  of 
masonry,  for  instance,  bordering  the  Agora  upon  the  south, 
overhung  the  bath  by  more  than  half  a  metre ;  while  the  bed- 
joints  of  a  fortification  wall  three  metres  thick,  forming  part 
of  the  eastern  enclosure,  were  lifted  to  an  angle  of  not  less 
than  fifteen  degrees. 

The  vestiges  which  had  survived  this  terrible  demolition 
were  buried  beneath  stones  fallen  from  the  upper  part  of  the 
buildings,  and  generally  also  beneath  some  accumulation  of 
earth.  This  had  been  overgrown  by  dwarf  oak  bushes,  inter¬ 
twined  with  briers,  and  as  these  are  the  only  forms  of  vege¬ 
tation  spared  by  the  browsing  goats  and  camels,  they  had 
covered  the  heaps  of  debris  with  low,  impenetrable  thickets. 
Such  was  the  aspect  of  the  entire  site  on  the  writer’s  first 
visit  to  Assos  in  1879. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1882. 


!5 


The  work  of  recovery  was  begun  by  burning  the  bushes. 
In  the  dry  season  the  tangled  mass  took  fire  readily,  and  the 
roaring  and  crackling  flame  quickly  swept  away  the  patches 
of  green  which  covered  the  heaps  of  moss-grown  ruins.  The 
formless  rubbish  was  then  removed,  and,  when  the  position 
of  the  ancient  walls  became  recognizable,  trenches  were  dug 
on  either  side  to  determine  their  character  and  extent.  Every 
block  still  retaining  its  original  shape,  whether  belonging  or 
not  to  the  edifice  upon  whose  plan  it  was  found,  was  meas¬ 
ured  and  drawn  to  a  uniform  scale,  generally  i  :  20.  It  was 
wonderful  how  this  “order  gave  each  thing  view.”  While 
the  plan  of  a  building  could  be  followed  by  the-  foundation 
walls,  if  not  by  marks  upon  the  pavement,  the  elevations 
were  recomposed  upon  paper,  bit  by  bit,  from  the  fragments 
brought  to  light.  The  height  of  the  columns,  and  conse¬ 
quently  also  that  of  the  stories  in  which  they  were  employed, 
became  evident  from  a  comparison  of  the  proportional  dimi¬ 
nution  of  all  the  drums  with  the  diameter  traced  upon  the 
stylobate,  and  with  that  of  the  necking  of  the  capitals.'  The 
holes  for  dowels  and  cramps  of  metal  provided  the  most 
absolute  proof  of  contiguity;  and  even  the  position  of  the 
separate  stones  in  courses  long  overthrown  could  be  deter¬ 
mined  from  the  shift  holes  which  it  was  customary  through¬ 
out  Greek  antiquity  to  cut  upon  the  beds  beneath  them.  In 
short,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  one  intimately  acquainted 
with  the  architectural  methods  and  details  of  the  ancients 
can  reconstruct  their  edifices  with  absolute  certainty  through 
a  close  study  of  overthrown  and  widely  scattered  stones,  — 
just  as  a  naturalist,  from  a  handful  of  fossil  bones,  can  pre¬ 
sent  the  image  and  describe  the  very  habits  of  an  animal 
which  for  thousands  of  years  has  had  no  living  represent¬ 
ative. 

The  task  of  tracing  the  connection  between  the  architec- 


X6  ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 

tural  members  was  complicated,  in  this  case,  through  their 
having  been  scattered  over  the  entire  site  by  later  Byzantine 
and  Turkish  builders.  Stones  of  the  upper  story  of  the  Stoa 
had  been  used  for  the  Christian  church  on  the  terrace  below 
the  Agora;  a  capital,  an  entablature,  and  the  lintel  and  jambs 
of  a  door  from  the  lower  town,  together  with  many  blocks 
from  the  summit  of  the  Acropolis,  had  been  built  into  the 
mosque  ;  beams  of  the  coffered  ceiling  of  the  great  temple 
had  been  employed  in  late  structures  that  stood  at  the  east  of 
the  Bouleuterion,  and  at  the  south  of  the  Gymnasion.  The 
fitting  together  of  such  disjecta  membra  in  some  cases  in¬ 
volved  more  than  a  thousand  measurements.  The  homo¬ 
geneous  character  of  the  material  was  the  source,  of  even 
greater  difficulty.  Without  a  single  exception,  the  buildings 
of  Assos,  from  the  archaic  Greek  temple  to  the  most  recent 
hovels  of  Behram  village,  were  built  of  the  second  andesite. 
Thus,  while  in  the  investigations  among  other  ruins  —  for 
instance,  those  of  the  neighboring  Pergamon  —  the  color  and 
grain  of  the  various  limestones  were  among  the  most  readily 
recognizable  and  trustworthy  indications,  at  Assos  all  was 
indistinguishable.  To  this  may  be  added  the  fact  that  the 
andesite,  although  in  general  suffering  but  little  from  weather¬ 
ing,  is  easily  chipped  and  split,  so  that  projecting  mouldings 
were  frequently  broken  off  altogether. 

During  the  second  and  third  weeks  of  September,  the 
writer  profited  by  the  presence  of  Mr.  Diller  to  visit  with 
him  a  large  part  of  the  western  and  southern  Troad,  the 
Theban  plain  to  the  south  of  Adramyttion,  and  the  tract 
between  this  and  Kisthene  known  as  Aphrodisias.  The 
route  included  all  the  coasts  of  the  mainland  bordering  the 
gulf.  A  rapid  survey  was  made  of  the  ruins  on  Qozlou-dagh, 
referred  to  in  the  first  Report  as  Lamponeia,  and  a  remark¬ 
able  fastness  was  discovered  upon  the  very  summit  of  Mount 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1882 . 


17 


Ida,  enclosing  a  spring  which  rises  but  a  few  steps  from  the 
highest  peaks.  These  explorations,  interesting  alike  in  geo¬ 
logical  and  topographical  respects,  were  continued  beyond  the 
head-waters  of  the  Aisepos,  to  an  ancient  site  where  various 
fragments  of  marble  sculptures  in  relief  were  found,  and  sub¬ 
sequently  removed  to  Assos. 

On  the  26th  and  27th  of  September,  while  the  digging  was 
being  carried  on  with  but  few  workmen,  a  number  of  most 
welcome  guests  were  entertained  at  Assos :  Prof.  W.  W. 
Goodwin,  of  Harvard  University,  then  on  his  way  to  Athens 
as  first  director  of  the  American  School,  Prof.  R.  C.  Jebb,  of 
the  University  of  Glasgow,  Frank  Calvert,  Esq.,  and  three 
ladies.  Professor  Jebb  has  published  an  interesting  account 
of  his  journey  through  the  Troad  on  this  occasion,  making 
also  some  comment  upon  the  work  at  Assos.1 

This  opportunity  may  not  pass  without  mention  of  the 
obligations  under  which  the  expedition  stands  to  Mr.  Calvert. 
His  friendly  assistance  was  given  on  all  possible  occasions, 
—  to  the  undertaking  itself,  as  well  as  to  every  member  of 
the  exploring  party  who  was  so  fortunate  as  to  visit  the 
well-known  farm  at  Thymbra,  or  the  hospitable  house  at  the 
Dardanelles.  A  familiarity  with  all  parts  of  the  Troad,  com¬ 
bined  with  exceptional  interest  and  information  in  various 
branches  of  scientific  research,  rendered  his  aid  of  the  great¬ 
est  value.  To  say  this  is  but  to  repeat  the  testimony  of  every 
scholar  of  our  generation  who  has  worked  in  this  part  of 
Asia  Minor.2 

1  Jebb  (Richard  Claverhouse),  A  Tour  in  the  Troad.  Fortnightly  Review, 
No.  CXCVI.,  London,  1883. 

2  Stark  (Carl  Bernhard),  Jenaer  Literaturzeitung,  Jena,  1877,  No.  XLIV. 
“  Jeder  der  seit  Jahrzehnten  .  .  .  Gelegenheit  gehabt  hat  an  den  Dardanellen  und 
in  der  troischen  Ebene  zu  weilen,  kennt  den  Namen  der  Familie  Calvert,  und 
weiss  dankbar  zu  riihmen  was  besonders  Frank  Calvert  durch  immer  neue 
Untersuchungen  und  durch  uneigenniitzige  Unterstiitzung  und  Berath ungen 
der  Reisenden  der  Erforschung  jener  Gegend  und  ihrer  Alterthiimer  gentitzt 


1 8  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 

Assos  is  so  far  aside  from  the  more  frequented  highways 
that  visitors  were  rare.  The  next  were  two  very  humble 
German  Handwerksburschen ,  brewers  by  trade,  who  were  pur¬ 
suing  a  somewhat  devious  course  homeward  from  Smyrna. 
In  default  of  the  wonted  Zehrpfennige  of  their  native  villages, 
they  had  supported  themselves  on  the  road  by  peddling  small 
packages  of  polishing-powder  of  their  own  manufacture.  One 
had  walked  all  the  way  from  Persia,  across  Asia  Minor.  They 
were  glad  to  work  for  a  time  in  the  survey,  and  made  them¬ 
selves  exceedingly  useful. 

After  the  6th  of  November,  funds  having  been  received, 
the  full  force  was  again  engaged,  and  the  digging  at  the 
Gymnasion  was  at  last  completed.  Towards  the  close  of  the 
month  the  men  were  divided  into  small  gangs,  and  were  em¬ 
ployed  upon  the  Agora,  in  the  Street  of  Tombs,  and  upon 
several  parts  of  the  fortifications.  As  it  was  then  thought  it 
might  be  necessary  to  end  all  excavations  at  Assos  with  the 
season  of  1882,  every  exertion  was  made  to  complete  the  most 
important  investigations  before  the  advent  of  that  midwinter 
month  of  Lenaion,  the  cold  of  which  is  as  terrible  to  the 
modern  as  to  the  ancient  laborer.1  The  men  dug  on  Sun¬ 
days,  feast-days,  and  even  on  Christmas,  for,  great  as  the 
superstition  of  the  Greeks  certainly  is,  it  yields  to  their  ambi¬ 
tion  and  their  love  of  money.  It  was  not  even  found  neces¬ 
sary  to  increase  the  wages  on  these  days,  as  had  been  done 

hat.”  Compare  also  the  same  writer  in  his  Nach  dem  griechischen  Orient , 
Heidelberg,  1874. 

Prof.  Dr.  Ascherson,  director  of  the  Botanical  Museum  of  Prussia,  says,  in 
his  Beitrag  zur  Flora  des  nordwestlichen  Kleinasiens  ( Jahresbucher  des  Botani- 
schen  Museums,  Berlin,  1883):  “Calvert,  dessen  vielseitiger  wissenschaftlicher 
Bildung  und  lebhaftem  Interesse  Naturwissenschaften  und  Archaologie  schon 
manchen  dankenswerthen  Beitrag  verdanken.  .  .  .” 

1  See  Hesiod’s  fine  description  of  the  rigors  of  Lenaion  in  the  Works  and 
Days,  504-563. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1882. 


19 


by  Dr.  Schliemann  at  the  neighboring  Hissarlik  ; 1  the  Chris¬ 
tians  at  Assos  were  unable  to  demand  such  a  discrimination, 
as  the  Mohammedans  had,  from  the  first,  worked  for  the 
usual  pay  on  Fridays. 

The  orthodox  Greeks  had,  indeed,  far  greater  objections  to 
working  on  the  many  saints’  days  than  on  Sundays,  always 
declaring  that,  if  they  should  fail  in  honoring  him,  the  saint 
in  question  would  do  them  some  evil.  Their  convictions  in 
this  respect  were  very  decided.  It  happened  that  on  such  a 
7ravrj<yvpL<;,  earlier  in  the  year,  the  writer  was  helping  a  num¬ 
ber  of  Turkish  workmen  to  move  one  of  the  inscribed  epistyle 
blocks  of  the  Bath,  when  it  fell  upon  his  foot,  which  was  so 
crushed  as  to  prevent  his  walking  for  three  weeks.  The 
accident  was  regarded  by  the  Greeks  as  a  clear  evidence 
that  the  offended  saint  had  interceded,  not  for  good,  but 
for  ill.  It  proved  of  but  little  moment,  since,  by  following 
a  roundabout  ascent,  the  field  of  ruins  could  be  visited  on 
horseback. 

That  the  greatest  care  was  taken  in  laying  out  and  super¬ 
intending  the  work  will  be  evident  from  the  fact  that,  in 
spite  of  the  danger  of  digging  in  deep  pits  and  trenches,  from 
the  sides  of  which  enormous  beams  of  stone  often  projected,  no 
serious  accident  occurred  during  the  three  years.  One  Greek 
laborer  was  knocked  down  by  a  slide  of  earth  beneath  the 
retaining  wall  of  the  Agora,  and,  as  his  complaints  were  so 
pitiful  that  internal  injuries  were  feared,  he  was  at  once  taken 
across  the  strait  to  the  village  doctor  of  Skamnia.  But  he 
returned  in  a  fortnight,  asking  to  be  employed  again.  Even 
apart  from  the  relatively  greater  risk  of  the  excavations,  this 
compares  favorably  with  the  general  statistics  of  earthwork 
and  railroad  building.  The  official  records  of  France,  for  in- 

1  Schliemann  (Heinrich),  Ilios,  City  and  Country  of  the  Trojans,  London, 
1880,  p.  661  ;  and  Troja,  London,  1884,  p.  11. 


20 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


stance,  show  an  average  of  one  individual  maimed  in  the 
expenditure  of  each  $40,000. 

The  Greeks  were  light-spirited,  and  even  somewhat  fool¬ 
hardy,  in  the  work  ;  but  the  Turks,  while  of  greater  strength 
and  bravery,  were  more  quiet  and  careful.  The  latter  were 
always  chosen  for  posts  requiring  especial  steadiness  and  en¬ 
durance,  such  as  the  tottering  upper  courses  of  the  towers 
and  walls,  and  the  narrow  pits  sunk  between  overthrown 
blocks  in  order  to  examine  the  sills  of  the  great  gateways. 
After  the  trustworthiness  of  Omer,  the  head  workman  of  the 
Turks,  had  become  known,  he  was  permitted  to  carry  the 
heavy  and  extremely  delicate  transit  instrument  from  place 
to  place,  over  heaps  of  rocks  and  up  steep  ascents.  His 
strength  and  fineness  of  touch  in  this  responsible  task  were 
remarkable. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  efforts  made  to  hasten  the  work 
after  the  arrival  of  funds,  it  was  still  found  impossible  to  bring 
the  investigations  to  an  entirely  satisfactory  conclusion  by  the 
end  of  the  second  season.  The  removal  of  the  deep  earth  ac¬ 
cumulated  beneath  the  Agora  had  occupied  the  busiest  months 
of  the  year,  and  had  required  more  time  than  could  have  been 
foreseen  in  laying  out  the  work.  As  has  been  explained,  the 
small  force  of  men  employed  during  September  and  October 
had  been  able  to  accomplish  but  little.  And  yet  it  was  the 
intention  of  the  promoters  of  the  undertaking,  as  well  as  the 
great  desire  of  those  intrusted  with  its  execution,  to  leave 
nothing  henceforth  to  be  done  upon  the  site  of  Assos,  —  even 
by  the  most  careful  gleaner. 

Therefore,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  committee  of  the 
Archaeological  Institute  shortly  before  the  suspension  of  the 
excavations  in  December,  1882,  it  was  recommended  that 
the  work  should  be  prosecuted  during  a  third  season,  —  as 
long  as  was  permitted  by  the  irad^  which  had  been  granted 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1882. 


21 


in  May,  1 88 1 ,  for  a  term  of  two  years.  The  responsibility 
of  this  proposal  was  seriously  felt.  It  threw  a  great  burden 
upon  the  members  of  the  committee,  who,  with  limited  means, 
were  then,  in  addition  to  the  work  at  Assos,  carrying  on 
extensive  researches  in  the  field  of  American  archaeology. 

The  considerations  upon  which  the  recommendation  was 
founded  were,  however,  of  decisive  weight.  Much  remained 
to  be  freed  from  earth  before  the  investigations  could  be 
regarded  as  absolutely  thorough,  and  the  recovery  of  the 
ancient  city  as  complete  as  it  could  be  made.  Upon  the 
Agora  it  was  necessary  to  remove  a  mass  of  debris  accumu¬ 
lated  between  the  Stoa  and  the  Bouleuterion,  south  of  the 
great  flight  of  stairs,  in  order  to  determine  the  character  of 
the  monument  there  existing,  —  which  subsequently  proved 
to  be  the  chief  bema  of  the  town.  The  ends  of  the  reservoir, 
also,  and  the  juncture  between  it  and  the  Stoa,  were  yet  to 
be  examined.  The  unique  importance  of  the  market-place 
at  Assos  rendered  the  thorough  investigation  of  all  points  in 
its  vicinity  a  matter  of  the  greatest  moment.  As  it  had  al¬ 
ready  proved  to  be  the  most  complete  and  interesting  Greek 
Agora  known,  no  stone  should  be  left  unturned  which  could 
throw  further  light  upon  the  arrangement  and  appearance  of 
the  buildings  surrounding  it.  Equal  in  importance  and 
extent  was  the  work  still  to  be  done  upon  the  fortifications  of 
the  city.  No  digging  had  hitherto  been  attempted  at  several 
of  the  gates  of  the  ancient  enclosure.  They  were  constantly 
used  by  the  Turkish  inhabitants  of  Behram,  and  it  was 
thought  advisable  to  defer  the  trouble  which  must  arise  from 
any  interference  with  these  thoroughfares  until  towards  the 
close  of  the  undertaking.  At  the  Gymnasion,  work  remained 
sufficient  to  occupy  a  large  body  of  men  for  two  or  three 
weeks  ;  the  same  was  the  case  with  the  main  street  of  the 
city,  between  the  great  eastern  gate  and  the  Agora.  The 


22 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


exceptionally  well  preserved  ruins  of  a  structure  in  the  lower 
town,  called,  upon  the  map  of  the  first  year,  a  Roman  portico, 
had  not  been  examined  at  all.  And,  finally,  the  investigations 
at  the  Necropolis  were  incomplete,  there  still  remaining,  at 
some  distance  from  the  city  walls,  a  mausoleum,  which  subse¬ 
quently  proved  to  be  among  the  most  interesting  structures 
of  its  kind.  To  this  it  must  be  added,  that  no  photographs 
fit  for  publication  had  been  taken  during  the  past  summer,  as 
the  gelatine  was  frilled  by  the  great  heat ;  and  also,  that  no 
professional  epigraphist  had  visited  the  site  to  examine  those 
inscriptions  which  could  not  be  carried  away  at  the  close  of 
the  work. 

Circumstances  of  recent  occurrence,  not  immediately  con¬ 
nected  with  the  undertaking,  gave  exceptional  emphasis  to  this 
recommendation.  The  Turkish  Ministry  of  Public  Instruction 
had,  a  short  time  before,  annulled  the  existing  laws  con¬ 
cerning  excavations  within  the  limits  of  the  Ottoman  Empire, 

.  and  had  resolved  thenceforth  to  grant  no  further  permission 
to  excavate,  and  even  to  forbid  the  sale  and  exportation  of 
all  antiques  discovered  in  the  Turkish  dominions.  It  thus 
appeared  more  than  probable  that  the  Archaeological  Insti¬ 
tute  was  engaged  in  its  last,  as  well  as  its  first  undertaking 
upon  classic  soil,  from  which  the  acquisition  of  ancient  re¬ 
mains  could  be  hoped ;  the  laws  of  Greece  having  long 
restricted  freedom  of  archaeological  investigation,  and  for¬ 
bidden  the  export  of  antiquities.  This  made  it  especially 
desirable  that  the  explorations  at  Assos  should  be  completed 
with  the  utmost  thoroughness,  —  even  though  the  resources 
of  the  Institute  should  be  taken  up  for  some  years  to  come. 

The  recommendation  was  adopted  by  the  committee,  and 
the  requisite  funds  were  promptly  subscribed  by  a  number  of 
gentlemen  interested  in  the  progress  of  the  work.  It  was 
soon  learned  by  telegraph  from  Boston  to  Assos  that  ample 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


23 


means  had  been  provided  for  the  continuation  of  the  excava¬ 
tions  during  a  third  season. 

During  the  first  three  weeks  and  a  half  of  December,  the 
staff  of  men,  gradually  decreasing  in  number  from  twenty- 
three  to  twelve,  was  employed  in  the  Street  of  Tombs.  But 
the  progress  was  not  rapid,  as  many  rainy  days  interfered 
with  the  work,  and  water  stood  deep  in  the  pits  and  trenches. 
On  the  26th  of  the  month  Mr.  Koldewey  and  the  writer  left 
the  site  for  Athens.  Digging  and  sledging  went  on  for  ten 
days  longer,  under  the  superintendence  of  Mr.  Bacon,  after 
which  time  the  investigations  were  suspended.  Even  six 
weeks  before,  the  streets  of  the  little  village  and  the  landing 
at  its  port  had  ceased  to  be  a  place  of  assemblage  for  the 
country  people.  The,  patrons  of  the  various  cafes  sat  in  the 
smoky  interiors,  huddled  together  over  basins  of  burning 
charcoal.  The  doors  of  the  windowless  hovels,  always  open 
during  the  warm  season,  were  now  tightly  closed  ;  within 
hibernated  the  women  and  children,  wrapped  in  the  gaily 
colored  rugs  which  they  had  woven  during  the  long  rain¬ 
storms  of  the  early  winter.  The  very  dogs  had  hidden  them¬ 
selves  away,  seeking  shelter  in  corners  of  the  many  unoccupied 
houses  which  attest  the  greater  extent  of  Behram  in  former 
ages.  To  one  riding  into  the  squalid  village  during  this  bit¬ 
terly  cold  season,  the  place  seemed  uninhabited,  —  the  settle¬ 
ment  of  the  Turkish  conquerors  itself  a  ruin. 

The  writer  returned  to  the  Troad  alone,  on  the  28th  of 
January,  1883.  The  beginning  of  the  digging  was  delayed 
for  more  than  a  week  by  the  slowness  of  the  Kaimaqam  of 
Alvadjyq  in  appointing  a  successor  to  the  official  supervisor 
of  the  work,  who  was  prevented  by  illness  from  resuming  his 
functions.  The  post  was  ultimately  assigned  to  Hadji  Chris¬ 
tos,  the  Greek  merchant  living  at  the  port,  whose  friendly 


( 


24 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


service  to  the  members  of  the  expedition,  on  their  first  arrival 
at  the  site,  has  been  referred  to.1 

With  eighteen  men,  all  that  could  be  brought  together  at 
this  time  of  the  year,  work  was  commenced  at  that  structure 
of  the  lower  town  designated  upon  the  plan  of  the  first  Re¬ 
port  as  a  Roman  portico.  As  the  excavations  advanced, 
this  proved  to  be  the  atrium  of  a  large  palace-like  dwelling. 
With  exception  of  the  Christian  churches  and  the  Turkish 
mosque,  it  was  the  building  of  latest  date  examined  at  Assos  ; 
but  it  was  well  constructed,  and,  in  design,  proved  of  interest 
as  exemplifying  the  persistent  retention  of  Hellenic  forms 
late  into  the  ages  of  Roman  rule.  It  furnished  an  additional 
example  of  the  civic  architecture  of  the  Greeks,  the  devel¬ 
opment  and  adaptability  of  which  is  so  well  shown  by  the 
monuments  of  Assos. 

During  February  the  work  was  carried  forward  under  great 
difficulties.  The  iotli  of  the  month  was  the  coldest  day  of 
the  year,  and  a  fortnight  later  there  were  long-continued 
storms  of  hail  and  snow,  which  put  a  stop  to  all  digging. 
Nevertheless,  it  was  found  possible  to  advance  the  excavation 
of  the  Atrium  so  rapidly  as  to  allow  a  part  of  the  gang  to  be 
transferred  to  the  Stoa,  and  to  the  small  aediculas  at  the  west 
of  that  building,  —  thus  preparing  the  way  for  the  further 
surveys  of  Mr.  Koldewey,  who  arrived  at  Assos  on  the  ist 
of  March.  The  digging  at  the  Atrium  being  by  that  time 
entirely  completed,  all  the  men,  now  over  forty  in  number, 
were  employed  in  the  vicinity  of  the  market-place  and  among 
the  tombs.  In  both  of  these  fields  the  work  was  richly  re¬ 
warded  :  at  the  Stoa,  Heroon,  and  Greek  Bath,  by  finding 
inscriptions  and  architectural  fragments  which  went  far  to¬ 
wards  solving  the  various  problems  of  arrangement  and  con¬ 
struction  presented  by  these  edifices  ;  in  the  Necropolis,  by 

1  Report,  p.  20. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


25 


the  discovery  of  the  finest  figurini,  vases,  and  coins  obtained 
during  the  entire  course  of  the  excavations.  The  24th  of 
March  was  a  day  of  good  fortune.  Several  sarcophagi  of 
great  age  were  found,  among  them  No.  87,  containing  a  num¬ 
ber  of  archaic  figures.  Six  hours  digging  on  that  day  resulted 
in  more  valuable  discoveries  than  had  been  made  in  this  lo¬ 
cality  for  half  a  year. 

Mr.  Bacon  having  returned  to  the  site  early  in  April,  all 
the  workmen  were,  during  this  last  month  of  the  undertaking, 
engaged  in  the  Street  of  Tombs.  The  number  of  laborers 
was  maintained  at  the  maximum  of  forty-five  until  the  24th 
of  April,  when  the  Easter  holidays  caused  the  usual  break  in 
the  ranks  of  the  Greeks.  The  minor  Greek  festivals  were 
not  permitted  to  interfere  with  the  work,  which  was  prose¬ 
cuted  with  the  utmost  diligence,  all  the  men  being  employed 
on  Sundays  whenever  showers  had  caused  any  considerable 
interruption  during  the  week. 

Finally,  on  the  1st  of  May,  the  excavations  were  brought  to 
a  close.  Throughout  the  ancient  city,  every  point  which  it 
had  seemed  advisable  to  expose  had  been  freed  from  earth, — 
excepting  only  one  small  corner,  about  seven  by  five  meters,  at 
the  western  end  of  the  Stoa,  beneath  the  ramp  which  ascends 
to  the  terrace  above.  So  closely  had  the  work  been  calculated 
that  forty-eight  hours  more  would  have  sufficed  to  clear  this 
spot.  But  the  fear  of  giving  the  Turkish  officials  even  the 
slightest  pretext  for  delaying  the  division  of  the  objects  dis¬ 
covered,  or  perhaps  even  for  refusing  the  grant  of  those  to 
which  the  promoters  of  the  undertaking  were  entitled  by  the 
terms  of  the  agreement,  prevented  any  removal  of  the  earth 
after  the  expiration  of  the  iracM,  —  although  for  some  time 
there  had  been  no  attempt  whatever  on  the  part  of  the 
Turkish  government  to  keep  track  of  the  movements  of  the 
explorers.  Thus  it  is  not  known,  and  in  all  probability  never 


26 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE . 


will  be  known,  what  treasures  may  lie  concealed  beneath  that 
heap  of  debris  near  the  entrance  to  the  ancient  market-place, 
left  for  the  last  because  of  its  comparative  unimportance. 

Early  in  the  year  the  Turkish  Ministry  of  Public  Instruc¬ 
tion  had  been  formally  requested  to  send  an  agent  who  should 
make  the  prescribed  division  and  allotment  of  the  antiques 
discovered  by  the  expedition.1  The  delay  of  a  decision  in 
this  matter  for  some  six  weeks  after  the  close  of  the  excava¬ 
tions  was  more  than  compensated  for  by  the  excellence  of 
the  official  appointment.  Demetrios  Bey  Baltazzi,  a  gentle¬ 
man  who  has  rendered  many  services  to  classical  archaeology 
in  the  Levant,  was  named  as  commissioner,  and,  during  two 
visits  to  Assos,  —  from  the  16th  to  the  21st  of  June,  and 
from  the  27th  of  June  to  the  2d  of  July,  —  effected  a  settle¬ 
ment  entirely  just  and  satisfactory  to  both  parties. 

The  irade  under  which  the  excavations  had  been  under¬ 
taken  was  framed  in  accordance  with  the  laws  concerning: 
antiquities  promulgated  by  the  Porte  in  1874.2  In  regard  to 
the  final  division  these  laws  determined  that  one  third  of  the 
objects  discovered  should  be  granted  to  the  owner  of  the  land 
where  they  are  found,  and  one  third  to  the  finder,  while  the 
remaining  third  should  become  the  property  of  the  Turkish 
government.3  At  Assos  the  entire  extent  of  the  ancient  city, 

1  Article  XXIX.  of  the  Turkish  laws  relative  to  antiques,  referred  to  in  the 
following  note,  determines  that  the  excavators  and  the  Ministry  of  Public  In¬ 
struction  shall  each  appoint  an  expert  to  estimate  the  value  of  the  indivisible 
objects  discovered,  and  to  effect  a  division  of  them,  —  provision  being  made 
that  a  third  shall  be  called  as  umpire  in  case  of  disagreement. 

2  The  laws  on  antiques,  promulgated  Sefer  20,  1291,  are  given  by  Aristarchi 
Bey,  Legislation  Ottomane,  vol.  iii.,  troisieme  division,  Constantinople,  1875, 
pp.  161-167. 

3  “  Article  III.  Toute  antiquite  non  decouverte  (gisant  sous  sol),  dans 
quelque  endroit  qu’elle  se  trouve,  appartient  au  gouvernement.  Quant  aux 
antiquites  trouvdes  par  ceux  qui  effectueraient  des  fouilles  par  autorisation,  un 
tiers  appartiendra  au  gouvernement,  un  autre  tiers  au  trouveur  et  le  reste 
au  proprietaire  du  terrain  oil  les  antiquites  ont  ete  trouvees.  Si  le  trouveur  a 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


27 


within  the  walls,  is  vakouf}  —  a  domain  set  apart  for  the  main¬ 
tenance  of  the  mosques,  —  and  hence,  in  so  far  as  the  point 
in  question  is  concerned,  a  domain  of  the  state.  Two  thirds 
of  all  the  objects  discovered  were  therefore  exacted  by  the 
Ministry  of  Public  Instruction.  The  only  private  enclosure 
where  excavations  had  been  made  was  the  level  field  lying  to 
the  west  of  the  Street  of  Tombs,  the  site  of  the  ancient  Sta- 
dion,  which  had  been  recently  reclaimed  and  sown  with  wheat. 
The  owner  of  this  ground  had  sold  to  the  expedition,  for  the 
sum  of  three  Turkish  pounds,  the  right  to  dig  in  certain  parts 
of  the  field,  ceding  also  that  portion  of  the  antique  objects 
which  would  by  law  fall  to  his  share.  But  the  discoveries 
here,  apart  from  the  important  mausoleum  with  the  barrel- 
vaulted  ceiling,  were,  only  some  half-dozen  vessels  of  coarse 
pottery,  not  of  sufficient  value  to  render  it  advisable  to  enter 
a  protest  against  a  general  division  on  the  terms  before  men¬ 
tioned. 

Attention  was  first  devoted  to  the  coins,  —  of  which  nearly 
three  thousand  had  been  discovered.  Those  of  gold  were  at 
once  set  aside  for  consideration  with  the  ornaments  of  pre¬ 
cious  metal.  Sixty  of  the  coins  of  silver  and  bronze  were  of 
especial  interest  on  account  of  the  positions  in  which  they 
had  been  discovered  :  in  sarcophagi,  the  ages  of  which  were 
thereby  determined  ;  under  walls  and  pavements,  thus  refer¬ 
able  to  subsequent  dates  ;  and  in  accumulations  of  Byzantine 
and  mediaeval  debris,  attesting  the  overthrow  and  desertion 
of  the  various  sites.  As  these  coins  were  of  greater  impor- 

trouve  ses  antiquities  dans  sa  propriete,  les  deux  tiers  seront  a  lui  et  le  reste 
au  gouvernement.” 

1  The  laws  governing  vakouf  property  are  given  in  the  Legislation  Otto- 
mane,  before  quoted,  vol.  i.,  section  deuxieme,  Constantinople,  1873,  PP-  241- 
249.  There  is  still  no  better  popular  explanation  of  this  peculiar  institution  of 
the  Turks  than  that  given  by  Mouradja  d’Ohsson  (Ignace  de),  Tableau  general 
de  l' Empire  Othoman ,  Paris,  1788-1824. 


28 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


tance  to  the  expedition  than  to  the  Turkish  Museum,  the 
bulk  of  them  was  kindly  granted  to  the  investigators  by 
Baltazzi  Bey,  who  chose  as  an  equivalent  one  hundred  and 
twenty  of  the  best  preserved  specimens  remaining.  •  He  did 
not  think  it  worth  while  to  sort  and  count  the  oxidized  and 
defaced  coins,  but  weighed  out  the  twenty-five  pounds  or  more 
with  scales  borrowed  from  the  village  bakhal,  allotting  alter¬ 
nately  one  oke  to  the  American,  and  two  to  the  Turkish  share. 
This  method  of  division  was,  it  is  true,  somewhat  crude ;  but, 
as  the  pieces  were  well  mixed  together,  it  was  impossible  to 
complain  of  it  as  unjust.  Nine  hundred  and  eight  coins  thus 
became  the  property  of  the  expedition,  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  of  which  were  of  numismatical  interest,  and  had  been 
identified  without  the  aid  of  a  specialist.  Among  these  were 
no  less  than  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  coins  of  Assos  it¬ 
self,  many  of  them  of  silver  :  the  finest  specimens,  and  all  the 
imperial  types  minted  by  the  city,  being  obtained  in  exchange 
for  certain  coins  of  the  Diadochi  and  Byzantines,  of  greater 
intrinsic,  but  of  less  scientific  value. 

On  the  28th  of  June  a  division  was  made  of  the  temple  re¬ 
liefs.  In  this  important  matter  it  was  more  difficult  to  reach 
a  satisfactory  conclusion,  and  it  was  only  after  much  persua¬ 
sion,  and  by  giving  up  to  the  Porte  all  the  fragments  of 
bronze  sculptures  discovered  during  the  excavations,  that  the 
expedition  secured  the  two  finest  blocks  of  the  epistyle, — 
namely,  the  Herakles  with  the  human-legged  centaurs,  and 
the  two  heraldic  sphinxes  from  the  eastern  front  of  the  build¬ 
ing,  superior  to  all  the  others  in  workmanship  and  of  better 
preservation. 

An  especial  arrangement  was  made  in  regard  to  the  in¬ 
scriptions.  The  commissioner  considered  the  value  of  the 
bronze  tablet,  with  the  oath  of  the  Assians  to  Caligula,  as 
equal  to  twice  that  of  all  the  inscribed  stones  together,  and 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


29 


could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  make  any  allotment  by  which 
the  Porte  would  be  obliged  to  relinquish  this  treasure.  The 
possession  of  the  tablet  was,  indeed,  greatly  to  be  desired, 
as  it  is  one  of  the  largest  and  best  preserved  among  the  few 
bronze  inscriptions  remaining  from  Greek  antiquity.  Al¬ 
though  its  patina  of  brilliant  green  and<.blue  had  been  almost 
entirely  lost  through  its  two  years’  exposure  to  the  air  in  the 
Turkish  custom-house,  where  it  had  been  placed  under  seal 
by  the  first  Maimouri,  its  appearance  was  still  so  striking 
as  to  make  it  in  this  respect  also  an  acquisition  to  be  prized 
in  any  museum  of  antiques.  Nevertheless,  it  was  felt  that,  in 
the  division  of  all  the  seventy-four  inscriptions  discovered  at 
Assos,  those  cut  in  stone  which  it  was  possible  to  remove 
from  the  site  formed,  ,in  essential  value,  decidedly  more  than 
one  third.  In  historical  interest,  for  instance,  the  bronze  tab¬ 
let  is  certainly  not  equal  to  either  the  inventory  of  the  great 
temple,  the  dedicatory  inscriptions  of  the  Bath,  or  the  epitaph 
of  Hellanikos  and  Arlegilla.  The  proposed  division  of  the 
inscriptions,  by  which  the  bronze  alone  was  taken  by  the 
Porte,  was  therefore  accepted  without  demur. 

The  marble  sculptures,  figurini,  pottery,  glass,  and  miscel¬ 
laneous  objects  were  divided,  class  by  class,  by  Baltazzi  Bey, 
each  into  three  approximately  equal  lots,  the  choice  of  one 
of  these  being  allowed  to  the  investigators.  This  was  fair, 
and  indeed  favorable  to  the  choosers.  It  would  certainly  have 
been  much  more  trying  if  the  commissioner  had  required  the 
finders  to  make  the  division,  and  leave  to  him  the  selection 
of  two  of  the  thirds.  Baltazzi  Bey,  however,  arranged  his 
lots  with  surprising  equality,  so  that  the  advantage  of  the 
first  choice  was  not  so  great  as  might  have  been  expected. 
He  was  uniformly  obliging  in  putting  into  the  same  share 
objects  which  in  any  wise  belonged  together,  whenever  this 
was  possible  without  disturbing  the  relative  values. 


30 


ARCHsEOL OGICA L  INS TITUTE. 


The  attention  of  the  explorers  was  invariably  directed 
towards  the  acquirement,  in  so  far  as  was  possible  in  this 
small  fraction  of  the  whole,  of  representative  types,  —  of  sci¬ 
entific  rather  than  material  value.  Thus,  of  the  minor  an¬ 
tiques,  as  of  the  coins  and  reliefs,  the  Americans  secured  the 
most  interesting  specimens,  —  although  not  quite  one  third 
of  them  in  number.  This  will  become  evident  by  a  compari¬ 
son  of  the  objects  which  have  been  removed  to  America 
with  those  remaining  in  the  possession  of  the  Turks.  Both 
will  be  described  in  detail  in  the  subsequent  pages,  and  the 
former  will  be  referred  to  according  to  the  numbers  attached 
to  them  in  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts. 

The  division  could  not  be  otherwise  than  a  painful  task  to 
the  explorers.  Series  of  figurini,  glass,  vessels  of  terra-cotta, 
and  many  minor  objects  illustrative  of  the  industries  of  the 
city  during  various  ages,  —  even  the  trifling  memorials  buried 
together  within  one  grave,  —  had  often  to  be  separated,  not¬ 
withstanding  the  obliging  readiness  of  Baltazzi  Bey  to  comply 
with  our  wishes.  It  was  with  sadness  that  two  thirds  of  the 
antiques  which  had  been  acquired  by  such  long  and  hard 
labor,  and  had  come  to  be  viewed  almost  with  a  feeling  of  per¬ 
sonal  attachment,  through  the  familiarity  of  close  study,  were 
given  up  to  the  unheeded  corners  of  a  Levantine  museum. 

It  is  but  just  that  attention  should  be  called  to  the  fact, — 
exceptional,  if  not  unparalleled  in  dealings  of  this  kind  with  the 
Turks,  —  that  not  the  smallest  object,  not  a  single  coin  or  sherd 
of  pottery,  was  kept  back  from  the  division  by  the  explorers. 
The  instructions  given  in  this  respect  by  the  executive  com¬ 
mittee  of  the  Archaeological  Institute  had  been  explicit,  and 
were  carried  out  by  their  agents  with  scrupulous  exactness.1 

1  It  should  be  stated  that  these  instructions  were  in  conformity  to  the  obliga¬ 
tions  entered  into  by  the  Institute  in  the  acceptance  of  the  iracli ;  the  executive 
committee  being  bound  in  honor,  no  less  than  in  morals,  to  issue  them. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


31 


The  only  antique  removed  from  the  site  during  the  progress 
of  the  work  —  a  gold  coin  found  during  the  first  year,  and 
submitted  to  an  eminent  American  numismatist  for  deter¬ 
mination —  was  returned  by  mail  before  the  division,  and 
ultimately  fell  to  the  share  of  the  Turks,  who  have  it  now 
in  possession.  Only  those  experienced  in  Oriental  methods 
of  dealing  can  fully  understand  what  this  means.  An  entirely 
different  procedure  would  have  been  quite  in  accordance  with 
the  accepted  laws  of  human  intercourse  in  the  Levant ;  and 
this  being  naturally  taken  for  granted  by  the  authorities,  it 
was  utterly  impossible  to  convince  them  that  the  usual  pro¬ 
testations  of  fair  dealing  were  in  this  case  literally  true.  A 
certain  license  of  appropriation  enters  into  the  calculations  of 
all  Turkish  business  ;  and,  as  in  most  instances  of  individual 
deviation  from  established  usages,  the  consciousness  of  abso¬ 
lute  rectitude  was  here  purchased  at  the  expense  of  great 
disadvantages.  In  itself,  this  position  may  be  regarded  with 
pride  by  those  who  planned,  as  by  those  who  carried  out,  the 
work ;  but,  as  a  moral  lesson  to  the  Turkish  official,  the  fiat 
justitia  of  the  Archaeological  Institute  was  certainly  futile. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  certain  that  some  few  antiques 
were  stolen  from  the  excavations  by  the  Greek  workmen,  in 
spite  of  all  precautions.  The  men  were  narrowly  watched 
during  the  work,  and  received,  in  addition  to  their  regular 
wages,  gratuities  for  such  small  objects  as  they  brought  to 
the  explorers.  The  obliterated  and  less  valuable  coins  were  col¬ 
lected  every  Saturday  night,  when  the  pay-roll  was  called,  and 
were  bought  in  at  a  fixed  scale  of  prices,  —  incommensurate, 
it  is  true,  to  their  worth  for  the  purposes  of  investigation,  but 
still  rather  more  than  they  would  have  fetched  if  sold  to  the 
bakhals,  or  to  the  travelling  Jews,  who  usually  carry  on  a 
modest  speculation  in  ancient  gems,  coins,  and  fragments 
of  figurini.  No  instance  of  an  antique  being  secreted  by 


32 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


a  Turkish  workman  was  detected  during  the  three  years ; 
but  the  Greeks  were  often  tale-bearers,  as  well  as  petty 
thieves,  and  exposed  various  acts  of  dishonesty  on  the  part 
of  their  fellows. 

The  lower  classes  of  Mytilene,  from  which  the  greater 
number  of  the  Greek  laborers  were  recruited,  are  notorious 
throughout  the  East  for  their  sharp  practices,  as  attested  by 
the  well-known  rhyme  : 

’AdrjvaLOL  kcu  0^/3atot 
Kai  kolko'l  MvtlXtjvolol, 

"AAAa  Xiyovv  to  /3paSv 
Ki’  a\\a  Kafxvow  to  Ta^v. 

Indeed,  the  inhabitants  of  this  island  have  often  been  stig¬ 
matized  as  among  the  most  unprincipled  of  the  modern,1  as 
their  ancestors  were  among  the  most  depraved  of  the  ancient 
Greeks.  Hence  it  could  be  no  surprise  that  pilfering  was 
attempted,  notwithstanding  every  incentive  to  fair  dealing, 
and  that  some  small  thefts  passed  without  detection,  despite 
the  strictest  surveillance.  Whether  any  of  the  objects  taken 
were  of  real  importance  cannot,  of  course,  be  known.  It  was 
at  least  impossible  to  steal  from  the  trenches  anything  which 
could  not  have  been  concealed  upon  the  person  during  the 
day’s  work,  and  the  most  important  investigations  —  those 
concerning  the  architecture,  sculpture,  and  epigraphy  of  the 
ancient  city  —  cannot  have  suffered  in  the  slightest.  Some 
fragments  of  terra-cotta  figurini,  said  to  have  been  brought 
from  Assos,  were  in  the  hand  of  a  dealer  at  Smyrna,  in 
May,  1883,  and  were  offered  for  sale  at  an  exorbitant  price. 
But  Professor  Ramsay,  from  whom  this  information  is  de¬ 
rived,  states  that  these  were  of  little  value,  and  certainly 

1  Compare  the  remarks  of  Finlay  (George),  A  History  of  Greece  from  its  Con¬ 
quest  by  the  Romans  to  ...  A.  D.  1864.  (New  Edition.)  Oxford,  1877,  etc., 
vol.  v.  p.  60. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


33 


much  inferior  to  the  specimens  which  he  had  seen  at  As- 
sos  itself.  Even  should  it  prove  —  and  this  is  a  mere  hy¬ 
pothesis —  that  any  of  the  better  images,  which  have  since 
come  into  European  and  American  collections  of  antiques 
by  way  of  Smyrna,  were  originally  stolen  from  the  excava¬ 
tions  at  Assos,  it  will  in  that  case  also  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  science  of  archaeology  is  not  the  less,  because  indi¬ 
rectly,  indebted  for  these  contributions  to  the  promoters  of 
the  undertaking. 

The  only  unauthorized  attempt  to  dig  upon  the  site,  dur¬ 
ing  the  two  years  designated  by  the  trade,  was  made  by  one 
of  the  Greek  valonea  merchants,  in  a  spot  where  nothing 
but  sherds  of  pottery  and  broken  terra-cotta  figures  could  be 
found:  a  terrace  adjoining  the  lower  fortifications,  filled  in 
with  debris  during  antiquity.  Some  few  basketfuls  of  earth 
were  here  removed.  This  should  not  be  considered  as  any 
intentional  infringement  of  the  rights  of  the  expedition,  but 
rather  as  a  continuation  of  the  desultory  digging  which  had 
been  carried  on  upon  the  ancient  site  for  many  years.  In 
this  instance  the  objects  discovered,  ultimately  handed  over  to 
the  expedition,  were  of  no  great  value  ;  but  before  the  com¬ 
mencement  of  the  systematic  excavations  the  treasure-seekers 
had  often  been  more  successful.  In  1878  a  Turk  of  Behram, 
while  digging  among  the  ruins,  discovered  twelve  silver  spoons 
of  curious  shape.  These  he  carried  across  to  the  island  of 
Mytilene,  and  sold  in  Skamnia.  An  attempt  was  made  to 
find  them,  but  they  had  passed  from  hand  to  hand  and  had 
finally  been  melted  up  for  the  manufacture  of  the  hideous 
images  of  sheet  silver  suspended  as  votive  offerings  at  the 
shrines  of  popular  Greek  saints,  —  just  as  certain  of  the 
prehistoric  gold  ornaments  stolen  from  Hissarlik  were  trans¬ 
formed  into  modern  jewelry. 

So  firmly  did  the  inhabitants  of  Behram  believe  an  endless 

3 


34 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


wealth  of  precious  metals  to  be  hidden  among  the  foundations 
of  the  ancient  city,  that  every  now  and  then  one  of  the  old 
men  of  the  village  would  come  to  tell  the  explorers  how  he 
had  seen  in  a  dream  a  treasure,  generally  a  pot  of  money, 
buried  beneath  a  certain  spot,  —  offering  to  indicate  the 
locality  if,  when  the  prize  was  found,  he  might  be  allowed  a 
share. 

This  belief  in  hidden  treasure  was  not  without  its  ludicrous 
aspects.  One  of  the  subordinate  officials  sent  by  the  govern¬ 
ment  as  Maimouri  long  entertained  the  most  extravagant 
hopes.  He  would  jump  into  the  trenches  whenever  a  sar¬ 
cophagus  was  unearthed,  in  order  to  seize  the  gold  which  he 
confidently  expected  it  to  contain.  This  became  troublesome 
to  the  workmen,  who  could  hardly  be  seriously  reproved  for 
causing  him  the  transient  delight  once  excited  by  the  pre¬ 
tended  discovery  of  a  heavy  and  shining  bowl  of  yellow 
metal. 

No  damage  was  done  by  the  excavations  to  any  property, 
public  or  private,  for  which  the  expedition  could  have  been 
held  responsible  according  to  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
articles  of  the  Turkish  code.  And  in  no  case  was  there  con¬ 
flict  or  disagreement  with  owners  of  fields  or  sheep-folds,  — 
jealous  as  the  villagers  naturally  were  concerning  any  disturb¬ 
ance  of  their  enclosures. 

By  the  night  of  the  30th  of  June,  Baltazzi  Bey  had  packed 
up  all  the  movable  antiques  which  had  fallen  to  the  share  of 
the  government,  and  had  deposited  them  under  seal  in  the 
magazine  of  the  customs  official  of  the  port. 

It  had  been  hoped  that  the  Turks  would  be  readily  induced, 
after  the  division,  to  sell  the  greater  part  of  the  antiquities 
which  had  thus  become  their  property,  —  more  especially  the 
remaining  blocks  of  the  temple  epistyle.,  The  Boston  Mu¬ 
seum  of  Fine  Arts  had  set  aside  the  sum  of  $2,000  for  this 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


35 


purpose.  But  it  soon  appeared  that  the  Ministry  of  Public 
Instruction,  in  extreme  pursuance  of  the  principles  adopted 
shortly  before,  had  determined  to  forbid  the  sale  of  antiques 
to  foreigners,  as  well  as  to  prohibit  the  exportation  of  all  works 
of  ancient  art  from  the  Ottoman  Empire.  No  proposals 
relative  to  the  purchase  of  the  Turkish  share  of  the  objects 
discovered  at  Assos  would  be  entertained  ;  and,  as  the  govern¬ 
ment  had  exercised  the  option  allowed  by  the  fifth  article  of 
the  code  then  in  force,1  and  had  divided  all  the  antiques  en 
nature,  and  not  en  valeur,  no  further  claims  could  be  made. 
The  sum  voted  by  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts  was  there¬ 
fore  unused. 

An  anonymous  writer  in  the  New  York  Nation2  has  since 
urged  the  Archaeological  Institute  to  undertake  legal  pro¬ 
ceedings  against  the  Turkish  Ministry  of  Public  Instruction, 
on  the  ground  that,  as  he  asserts,  the  law  of  1874  “enacts 
that  indivisible  sculptures  shall  not  be  divided,  but  valued 
and  given  up  to  the  finder  in  exchange  for  their  estimated 
value.”  Unfortunately,  there  is  nothing  in  the  law  in  question 
to  bear  out  this  assertion.  The  finders  were  by  no  means 
thus  favored  with  the  certainty  of  ultimate  possession,  the 
decision  as  to  any  proposed  purchase  being  left  wholly  to  the 
option  of  the  government.  The  code  of  1874  had  been  re¬ 
pealed  before  the  division  was  made  at  Assos,  and  the  laws 
at  present  in  force,  although  not  promulgated  until  February, 
1884,  had  already  been  determined  upon.  This  of  course 
altered  nothing  in  regard  to  the  terms  and  ’privileges  of  the 
irade ;  but  the  commissioner  had  been  instructed  to  negotiate 
no  sale,  and  to  allow  the  exportation  of  no  antiques  excepting 
those  which  the  government  was  pledged  to  give  up  according 

1  “  Article  V.  La  repartition  des  antiques  se  fera,  selon  la  demancle  du 
gouvernement,  en  nature  ou  en  valeur.” 

2  The  Nation,  New  York,  Nov.  13,  1884. 


36 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


to  the  original  agreement.  It  was  in  conformity  with  this 
policy  that  Baltazzi  Bey  had  made  out  all  the  lots  in  kind. 
Even  if  the  law  of  1874  had  actually  contained  any  such 
clause  as  that  upon  which  the  well-meaning  critic  in  the 
Nation  would  have  based  a  legal  claim,  it  would,  under  these 
circumstances,  have  been  impossible  to  persuade  the  Turks 
that  the  sculptures  from  the  epistyle  of  the  temple  were  to 
be  considered  as  indivisible,  —  they  being  well  aware  that  at 
that  very  time  a  considerable  part  of  this  disconnected  series 
of  representations  was  in  Paris. 

In  conformity  with  the  thirty-second  article  of  the  code, 
detailed  lists  of  the  antiques  belonging  to  the  American  share 
were  made  out  and  submitted  to  the  customs  officials  of 
Behram  and  of  the  Dardanelles,  —  the  chief  station  of  the 
Vilayet.  Export  duties  are  levied  by  the  Turks  even  upon 
fragments  of  ancient  works  of  art,  eight  per  cent  being  as¬ 
sessed  on  the  assumed  value,  the  determination  of  which  is, 
of  course,  in  such  a  case,  altogether  arbitrary. 

While  awaiting  a  decision  in  this  matter,  and  the  issue  of 
the  teskere  which  should  permit  the  removal  of  the  antiques 
belonging  to  the  expedition,  all  the  objects  were  packed  in 
wooden  cases  :  the  inscriptions  and  smaller  stones  being 
wrapped  in  hay,  the  vases  and  figurini  in  a  fine  dried  sea¬ 
weed.  The  greatest  care  was  required  in  preparing  the  glass 
vessels  for  the  long  transit,  as  many  of  these  had  become 
exceedingly  fragile  through  the  flaky  oxidization  of  two  thou¬ 
sand  years,  the  iridescent  material  being  in  some  places  al¬ 
most  as  thin  as  paper.  Indeed  the  side  of  one  delicate  glass 
pitcher,  now  in  Boston,  was  found  to  have  fallen  in  from  its 
own  weight  while  still  in  the  sarcophagus,  so  that  this 
exceptionally  fine  specimen  was  excluded  from  the  division 
by  the  commissioner,  on  the  ground  that  it  could  not  possibly 
be  removed  from  the  site.  In  packing  things  of  this  kind  an 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


37 


expedient  was  adopted  which  proved  entirely  successful,  and 
may  be  recommended  for  similar  cases.  Fleeces  of  cotton 
were  lightly  held  over  the  object  while  a  spray  of  thin  muci¬ 
lage  was  blown  upon  them  through  an  atomizer.  After  this 
had  been  allowed  to  dry,  further  layers  of  cotton  were  wrapped 
about  the  whole,  which  was  then  wound  around  with  thread 
and  dipped  into  thick  glue.  The  firm  shell  thus  formed 
proved  a  perfect  protection,  especially  as  each  ball  was 
packed  in  a  separate  box  that  it  might  not  be  exposed  to 
pressure.  In  opening,  the  outer  layers  were  cut  off  with 
shears  and  the  innermost  fleeces  slightly  moistened.  Three 
ancient  skulls,  which  seemed  so  ready  to  crumble,  into  dust 
that  even  their  removal  from  the  Necropolis  to  the  magazine 
at  the  port  was  at  first  thought  hardly  possible,  were  also 
thus  prepared,  and  when  placed  in  the  hands  of  that  emi¬ 
nent  specialist,  Dr.  Virchow  of  Berlin,  they  were  in  precisely 
the  same  state  as  when  taken  from  the  tombs.  In  all  the 
long  voyages  and  many  transshipments  between  Behram  and 
Boston  the  only  one  of  the  antiques  injured  was  a  vase  which 
separated  in  the  lines  of  an  old  crack. 

Every  article  belonging  to  the  American  share  being 
packed,  the  export  duties  paid,  and  the  permission  to  remove 
the  cases  having  been  received  by  telegraph  from  the  customs 
officials  of  the  Dardanelles,  the  writer  left  the  site  on  the 
14th  of  July,  1883.  Mr.  Bacon  and  Mr.  Koldeway  remained 
for  some  time  longer,  in  order  to  complete  the  detailed  surveys 
of  the  Necropolis  and  Agora. 

Difficulties  were  subsequently  raised  by  the  Turkish  offi¬ 
cials  in  regard  to  the  removal  of  the  architectural  fragments. 
These  consisted  of  a  complete  order  from  the  great  temple  of 
the  Acropolis,  the  stump  of  an  archaic  column,  and  specimens 
of  various  mouldings  from  the  Street  of  Tombs,  capitals  from 
the  Stoa  and  Bath,  and  portions  of  the  two  chief  mosaics  of 


38 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


the  lower  town.  They  had  not  been  included  in  the  division, 
but  had  all  been  left  to  the  Americans,  as  Baltazzi  Bey  did 
not  consider  them  of  sufficient  value  to  the  Imperial  Museum 
to  warrant  the  expense  of  carrying  them  to  Constantinople. 
After  the  local  officers  of  the  customs  had  permitted  the  ship¬ 
ment  of  the  other  objects,  they  found  a  pretext  for  interference, 
and  stubbornly  refused  to  allow  the  removal  of  those  blocks, 
because  they  had  not  been  specified  in  the  division  lists. 
These  stones  had  been  admitted  to  be  of  no  value  to  the 
Turks,  and  their  retention  by  the  customs  officials  was  simply 
an  act  of  obstructiveness,  —  an  abus  de ponvoir ,  as  the  before- 
mentioned  writer  in  the  Nation  has  justly  characterized  it. 
The  commissioner  could  not  again  be  summoned  to  the  site  ; 
and,  in  spite  of  the  repeated  efforts  of  the  Archaeological 
Institute  through  the  American  Legation  at  Constantinople, 
nothing  has  since  been  obtained  but  promises  from  the  Direc¬ 
tor  of  the  Imperial  Museum,  and  from  the  Minister  of  Public 
Instruction,  to  whom  the  ultimate  decision  is  referable. 

The  total  cost  of  the  investigations  at  Assos,  including 
every  expenditure  at  all  connected  with  the  undertaking,  from 
November,  1880,  until  May,  1884,  was  $19,121.16.  Of  this 
sum  $3,344.53  was  directly  spent  in  earth-work,  —  no  small 
proportion  of  the  whole,  in  view  of  the  remoteness  of  the  site 
from  the  home  of  the  explorers,  and  the  fact  that  attention 
was  at  all  times  directed  rather  to  a  scientific  investigation 
of  the  monuments  of  the  ancient  city,  than  to  a  mere  sifting 
of  great  mounds  of  rubbish  in  the  hope  of  discovering  an¬ 
tiques.  The  remainder  was  devoted  to  the  purchase  of  the 
household  and  excavating  outfit,  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
party  of  explorers  upon  the  site,  to  the  transportation  of 
the  chattels  of  the  expedition  and  the  antiques  discovered 
by  it,  to  the  travelling  expenses  and  the  salaries  of  the  agents 
of  the  Institute,  and,  finally,  to  the  expensive  official  relations 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


39 


inseparably  connected  with  all  work  carried  on  under  Turkish 
jurisdiction.  The  entire  outlay,  although  a  heavy  tax  upon 
the  resources  of  a  newly  formed  society  of  private  individuals 
cannot  be  thought  excessive,  considering  the  extended  and 
complex  nature  of  the  task: 

'E/carov  Se  re  Sovpad ’  u/xa^s.1 

It  has  pleased  the  executive  committee  of  the  Institute  to 
express  its  entire  satisfaction  with  the  detailed  accounts  ren¬ 
dered  by  the  agents  employed  in  this  work,  and  to  praise  their 
constant  economy,  upon  the  exercise  of  which  the  success  of 
the  expedition  was  in  great  measure  dependent.2 

1  Used  proverbially  by  Hesiod,  Works  and  Days,  456,  and  quoted  by  Plato, 
Theaitetos,  XLII.  17. 

2  Archeological  Institute  'of  America.  Fifth  Annual  Report  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  p.  26.  Cambridge,  1884. 


CHAPTER  II. 


ACROPOLIS  AND  TEMPLE. 

'  |  "'HE  volcanic  crater  which  forms  the  Acropolis  of  Assos 

-1-  is  one  of  the  most  striking  natural  features  of  the 
Troad.  Rising  precipitously  on  a  narrow  strip  of  land  be¬ 
tween  the  sea  and  the  river  valley,  it  is  the  highest  point 
between  the  mountain  of  Qozlou-dagh  (Gargara),  ten  kilome¬ 
ters  to  the  east,  and  the  great  plateau  above  Polymedion,  an 
equal  distance  to  the  west.  Its  topographical  isolation  is 
hence  very  marked.  To  repeat  the  words  of  the  First  Re¬ 
port  :  in  all  the  wonderfully  picturesque  lands  inhabited  by 
the  Greeks,  no  site  was  more  majestic  or  more  beautiful  than 
that  of  Assos.  The  cliffs  upon  the  seaward  side  are  so  steep, 
that,  standing  on  the  Acropolis,  one  can  look  down  into  the 
holds  of  the  vessels  moored  in  the  little  port  beneath,  —  and 
so  high,  that  the  summit  is  at  times  in  or  above  the  clouds. 
On  a  morning  in  early  spring,  while  drops  of  rain  were  fall¬ 
ing  at  the  port,  the  writer  has  climbed  through  a  thick  bank 
of  vapor,  hanging  between  the  Agora  and  the  Acropolis,  and 
has  found  the  sky  blue  overhead,  and  the  ruins  of  the  temple 
lighted  up  by  the  first  rays  of  the  sun. 

The  finest  views  of  the  Acropolis  are  to  be  had  from  the 
southeast  and  the  southwest,  a  mile  or  more  out  to  sea.  It 
was,  without  doubt,  partly  on  this  account  that  the  temple 
which  crowned  the  height  was  placed  close  to  the  southern 
edge  of  the  summit.  The  building  must  have  formed  a  land¬ 
mark  from  every  part  of  the  Gulf  of  Adramyttion  and  the 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


41 


Strait  of  Mytilene  ;  the  sailor  nearing  the  port  could  grad¬ 
ually  distinguish  the  quiet  lines  of  its  columns  and  entab¬ 
lature,  thrown  into  relief  by  their  dark  shadows  upon  the 
cella  wall.  The  low,  mediaeval  towers  now  surmounting  the 
Acropolis  can  be  distinctly  seen  from  the  fortress  of  Molivo, 
twenty  kilometers  away,  although  at  this  distance  the  hill  of 
Assos  is  not  outlined  against  the  sky.  But  its  full  grandeur, 
dependent  in  great  measure  upon  its  isolation,  is  felt  when 
the  observer  stands  upon  the  heights  separating  the  river 
valley  from  the  sea,  —  for  instance,  at  the  village  of  Bourgas, 
upon  the  west-northwest,  or  on  the  road  to  Sonoba,  to  the 
east  of  the  Acropolis. 

On  the  north,  the  slope  is  more  gradual,  but  even  here  the 
cliffs  are  often  twenty  meters  high.  Towards  the  sea,  the 
grade  is  almost  one  in  two  ;  towards  the  river  plain,  it  is  one 
in  four.  While,  on  the  one  side,  the  crater  and  its  surround¬ 
ing  dikes  have  been  scarped  by  the  action  of  the  waves,  on 
the  other  the  great  ravine  between  the  two  ranges  has  been 
filled  in  with  the  detritus  brought  by  the  Satnioeis  from  the 
heights  of  Ida  since  the  close  of  the  tertiary  period,  so  that 
the  stream  now  flows  at  an  elevation  of  one  hundred  meters 
above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

The  earliest  inhabitants  of  the  land  cannot  have  failed  to 
take  advantage  of  the  protection  afforded  by  this  great  natu¬ 
ral  stronghold.  Geological  revolutions,  which  in  one  epoch 
plunged  the  entire  range  beneath  the  sea,  had  truncated  the 
cone  of  the  crater.  The  level  summit  thus  formed  could 
easily  be  rendered  impregnable  by  the  erection  of  walls  at 
those  few  points  where  the  foot  of  man  could  make  the  as¬ 
cent.  The  limited  circuit  could  be  defended  by  a  small  num¬ 
ber  of  besieged  against  the  attacks  of  an  army ;  and  yet  the 
enclosed  area  was  of  sufficient  extent  to  accommodate  a 
considerable  garrison. 


42 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


As  if  to  give  every  possible  advantage,  nature  not  only 
surrounded  the  rocky  heights  with  the  most  fertile  fields, 
but  created,  within  the  very  confines  of  the  citadel,  an  inex¬ 
haustible  reservoir  of  water.1  /  A  large  cavity  in  the  rock 
which  forms  the  northern  terrace  of  the  Acropolis  retains  a 
provision  of  water  until  midsummer,  without  the  slightest 
effort  on  the  part  of  man  to  increase  its  supply.  At  the 
present  day,  when  no  buildings  stand  upon  the  Acropolis 
from  whose  roofs  the  rainfall  could  be  collected,  —  when  no 
furrows,  even,  are  made  along  the  earth  to  carry  the  winter 
torrents  into  the  well,  and  no  care  is  taken  to  keep  it  unde¬ 
filed, —  the  inhabitants  of  Behram  can  fetch  their  drinking 
water  from  this  cistern  as  late  in  the  season  as  July. 

It  is  not  possible  to  say  at  what  period  this  cavern  was  first 
enlarged  and  rendered  accessible.  The  masonry  now  remain¬ 
ing  upon  its  sides,  the  revetement  of  the  deep  fissure  at  the 
bottom,  and  the  flight  of  steps  by  which  the  Turkish  women 
descend  to  the  water  with  their  jars,  all  date  from  the  Middle 
Ages.  The  total  width  of  the  cistern  is  6.8  m.,  its  length  8  m., 
and  its  depth,  measured  from  the  floor  of  the  eastern  chamber 
to  the  spring  of  the  vault,  7.5  in,  A  longitudinal  division 
wall  has  been  built,  and  the  two  subterranean  chambers  thus 
formed  have  been  covered  with  rude  barrel-vaults,  the  im¬ 
posts  of  which  are  nearly  on  a  level  with  the  ground.  These 
enormous  reservoirs,  once  filled,  would  contain  enough  water 
to  supply,  for  an  entire  year,  the  needs  of  a  garrison  of  more 
than  six  hundred  men.  Replenished  by  every  rain,  they  must 
have  been  capable  of  providing  drinking  water  for  all  the 
twelve  or  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants  of  ancient  Assos,  at 
the  time  of  its  greatest  extent. 

It  is  plain  that  the  walls  of  defence  erected  upon  the 

1  Shown  on  the  plan  of  the  Acropolis,  given  in  the  First  Report,  Plate  2,  as 
“  Cisterns.” 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


43 


Acropolis  were  in  great  part  razed  to  the  ground  after  every 
successful  attack.  Their  stones  have  gone  to  increase  the 
great  slopes  of  rubbish  which  have  accumulated  at  the  foot  of 
the  cliffs.  Nowhere,  throughout  their  entire  extent,  have  the 
fortifications  of  the  town  been  so  thoroughly  demolished  as 
upon  this  height.  The  investigations  concerning  the  mili¬ 
tary  architecture  of  ancient  Assos  —  of  which  the  surround¬ 
ing  walls  supply  so  many  examples  in  perfect  preservation  — 
derive  no  materials  whatever  from  this  strongest  retreat. 
Only  here  and  there  are  vestiges  of  polygonal  masonry  to  be 
seen,  these  generally  forming  low  retaining  walls  in  clefts  of 
the  native  rock.  The  only  courses  of  accurately  squared 
stones  in  position  are  those  beneath  the  huge  tower  of  rubble, 
erected  in  the  Middle  Ages,  which,  with  the  other  mediaeval 
fortifications  of  the  Acropolis,  will  be  described  in  a  subse¬ 
quent  chapter.  Even  the  latest  and  rudest  ramparts,  con¬ 
sisting  of  small  stones  set  in  thick  mortar,  have,  with  few 
exceptions,  been  levelled  to  the  ground  by  the  Turks,  who, 
of  the  successive  inhabitants  of  the  place,  seem  to  be  the 
only  ones  that  have  done  nothing  to  increase  its  defensive 
strength. 

Evidences  of  the  attacks  made  upon  the  fortress  are  seen 
in  a  number  of  human  skeletons,  found  buried  in  the  rubbish 
which  had  accumulated  around  the  foundations  of  the  enclos¬ 
ing  wall  upon  the  southeast.  These  must  be  the  remains 
of  besiegers  who  had  fallen  in  assault,  and  whose  bodies, 
covered  with  the  stones  and  earth  thrown  over  the  brink,  had 
not  received  the  rites  of  sepulture.  Fragments  of  at  least 
three  skulls  were  here  brought  to  light,  but  the  bones  crum¬ 
bled  at  a  touch,  and  could  not  be  removed  from  the  site  for 
osteological  study.  The  period  at  which  one  of  these  war¬ 
riors  had  perished  was,  however,  determined,  with  some 
degree  of  certainty,  by  the  character  of  the  weapons  found 


44 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


near  the  bones,  to  be  that  of  the  conquest  of  Assos  by  the 
Persians  in  the  sixth  century  before  Christ.  In  the  well- 
defined  stratum  in  which  these  remains  were  buried,  three 
bronze  arrow-heads  were  discovered,  one  in  particular  lying 

close  to  the  skull.  The  arrow-heads  found 
at  this  depth  were  all  of  precisely  the  same 
type,  and  of  a  shape  exemplified  by  the 
specimen  last  referred  to,  now  preserved 
in  Boston  (Museum,  No.  A.  50,  Fig.  1). 
They  resemble  in  every  particular  the 
arrow-heads  found  by  Ouseley  among  re¬ 
mains  referable  to  the  age  of  the  Achae- 
menidae,1  and  those  picked  up  by  Gell 
upon  the  field  of  Marathon.2 ' 

Bronze  arrow-heads  continued,  it  is 

Arrow-head.  true,  to  be  employed  until  a  much  later 

From  the  Acropolis.  period  of  antiquity.  This  is  proved  by 

their  presence  in  the  tombs  of  Greek  warriors  at  Kertsch, 
in  Southern  Russia,  dating  from  the  age  of  Alexander  the 
Great,3  as  well  as  among  the  remains  brought  to  light  at 

Naukratis4  and  in  the  Altis  of  Olympia.  But  the  arrow¬ 

heads  in  use  subsequent  to  the  Persian  wars  are  readily  to 
be  distinguished  from  such  archaic  ones  as  those  found  in 
the  lower  stratum. 

Specimens  of  a  three-bladed  variety  were  also  found  upon 
the  slopes  of  the  Acropolis  of  Assos.  One  is  now  in  Boston 
(Museum,  No.  A.  49,  Fig.  2).  Its  form  illustrates  the  term 

1  Ouseley  (Sir  William),  Travels  in  various  Countries  of  the  East ,  more 
especially  Persia,  London,  1819-23,  vol.  ii.  PI.  39. 

2  Gell  is  quoted,  and  the  arrow-head  in  question  is  engraved  in  the  work 
referred  to  in  the  preceding  note. 

3  Academie  de  St.  Petersbourg,  Compte-rendu  de  la  Commission  Imperiale, 
St.  Petersbourg,  1876,  Plate  II. 

4  The  objects  in  question  were  examined  by  the  writer  at  the  exhibition  of 
antiques  from  Naukratis,  held  in  the  Oxford  Mansions,  London,  1885. 


Fig.  1. 

Archaic  Bronze 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  18S3.  45 

rpiyXcoxis,  applied  to  an  arrow  by  Homer.1  These  heads  of  tri¬ 
angular  section  seem,  like  the  ones  before 
mentioned,  to  have  been  imitated  from  a 
Persian  type.2  Indeed,  the  Greeks  ap¬ 
pear  to  have  derived  much  of  their  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  fittings  of  archery  from  the 
well-equipped  bowmen  who  made  up  the 
main'force  of  an  Oriental  army.3  Witness 
their  “  Parthian”  and  “  Scythian”  bows. 

Among  the  weapons  found  around 
the  walls  of  the  citadel  are  also  an  iron 
spear-head  with  a  long  and  thin  blade  of 
fine  workmanship,  now  much  corroded 

(Museum,  No.  M.  598,  a,  6),  and  a  Bronze  Arrowhead. 
heavy  double-headed  axe  or  mattock,  From  the  Acropolis, 
excellently  preserved,  which,  notwithstanding  its  modern 
appearance,  was  found  in  a  situation  and  at  a  depth  proving 


Fig.  3.  Iron  Mattock. 
From  the  Acropolis. 


it,  at  all  events,  to  have  antedated  the  Middle  Ages 
(Museum,  No.  M.  603,  Fig.  3). 


1  Iliad,  V.  393,  XI.  507.  Elsewhere  in  the  Iliad  the  fittings  of  arrows  are 
especially  referred  to  as  of  bronze  (e.  g.  XIII.  650,  662). 

2  Compare  the  ancient  Persian  arrow-heads  given  by  James  P.  Morier,  A  Sec¬ 
ond  Journey  through  Persia,  Armenia,  and  Asia  Minor,  etc.,  London,  1818. 

8  Almost  all  the  troops  which  formed  the  army  of  Xerxes  were  armed  with 
the  bow.  Compare  Herodotos,  VII.  61-80.  Bronze  arrow-heads  of  this  three- 
bladed  kind  are,  however,  said  to  be  found  in  Greece  upon  every  spot  where 
a  battle  is  known  to  have  been  fought.  See  Dodwell,  A  Classical  and  Topo¬ 
graphical  Tour  through  Greece,  London,  1819,  vol.  ii.  p.  160. 


46 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


t 


Within  the  enclosure  of  the  Acropolis  no  such  arms  or 
implements  were  found,  and  the  only  human  remains  were 
the  crumbling  bones  of  one  individual,  contained  in  a  cist 
neatly  constructed  of  large  tiles,  which  had  been  buried  in 
the  deep  earth  at  the  north  of  the  temple,  80  cm.  above  the 
native  rock. 

The  coins  picked  up  in  the  trenches  furnished  specimens  of 
the  mintage  of  every  age,  from  the  time  when  coined  money 
was  first  employed  in  the  Troad  until  the  advent  of  the  Otto¬ 
man  Turks.  Remarkable  among  these  were  a  fine  electron 
of  Michael  VIII.,  Palaiologos,1  and  a  silver  coin  of  the  Ve¬ 
netian  Dandolo,  one  of  the  few  memorials  of  the  occupation 
of  Assos  by  the  Latins  after  the  fifth  Crusade. 

It  appears  that  no  buildings  have  ever  been  erected  by  the 
Turks  within  the  walls  of  the  Acropolis.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  many  small  dwellings  and  store¬ 
houses  did  stand  within  the  enclosure  during  the  two  centu¬ 
ries  which  intervened  between  the  first  Seldjukian  conquest 
and  the  Ottoman  occupation.  The  southern  terrace  of  the 
citadel  was  covered  at  this  period  by  a  pavement  of  cement, 
in  which  were  embedded  small  stones  and  bits  of  pottery. 
This  pavement  was  on  a  level  with  the  stylobate  of  the 
temple,  the  massive  blocks  of  which  served  as  the  founda¬ 
tions  for  a  confused  group  of  hovels  and  magazines.  At  the 
northeast,  similar  structures  of  rubble  walls  without  mortar 
were  built  directly  upon  the  native  rock  ;  and  near  the  high¬ 
est  peak  were  discovered  the  lower  courses  of  an  apse,  — 
part  of  a  small  sanctuary,  such  as  the  Byzantine  Christians 
erected  upon  many  of  the  neighboring  eminences.  All  these 
structures  were  enclosed  by  rude  ramparts,  consisting,  on  the 
west,  almost  entirely  of  blocks  of  the  entablature  of  the 

1  Compare  First  Report,  p.  32.  In  the  official  division  this  coin  fell  to  the 
share  of  the  Turks. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


47 


temple,  and,  on  the  south,  of  a  long  array  of  its  capitals, 
placed  on  the  sides  of  their  abaci.  At  the  east,  ample  de¬ 
fence  had  been  provided  by  somewhat  earlier  mediaeval  walls, 
the  stones  of  which  were  set  in  mortar;  and,  at  the  north, 
the  precipitous  cliffs  rising  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest 
terrace  of  the  Acropolis  were  crowned  only  by  a  low  parapet. 
The  entrance  to  this  enclosure,  at  the  west,1  was  flanked  by 
upright  beams  of  the  inner  epistyle  of  the  temple.  Most  of 
the  reliefs  discovered  by  the  expedition  had  been  built  into 
these  walls :  the  lion  and  boar,  the  lion  and  hind,  and  the 
entire  metope,  standing  at  the  west,  the  sphinxes  from  the 
eastern  front  of  the  temple  at  the  east,  and  the  Herakles  and 
Centaurs  at  the  south. 

The  cemetery  of  the  Byzantine  garrison  was  just  outside 
the  Acropolis  at  the  northeast.  Here  the  bodies  of  the 
defenders  were  buried  in  the  shallow  earth,  without  being 
enclosed  in  coffers  of  any  kind.  A  number  of  these  graves 
were  opened,  but  in  them  were  found  no  coins  or  weapons 
by  which  their  age  could  be  determined.  Still,  we  may 
venture  to  suppose  that  the  most  recent  and  hasty  ramparts 
were  erected  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
under  Machrames,  the  last  defender  of  the  Greek  town, 
whose  pathetic  history  will  be  recounted  in  a  subsequent 
chapter. 

How  completely  the  temple  had  by  this  time  been  destroyed, 
even  the  pavement  of  the  temenos  being  torn  up  and  washed 
away,  became  evident  from  the  position  of  one  of  the  capitals, 
which  was  found  lying  with  its  abacus  nearly  half  a  meter 
below  the  rise  of  the  lower  step. 

It  is  now  impossible  to  determine  the  original  plan,  or  even 
the  extent,  of  the  upper  terrace ;  but  it  is  evident,  from  the 
size  of  the  boulders  which  have  fallen  upon  the  floor  of  the 
1  First  Report,  Plan  of  Acropolis,  Plate  2,  “  Gate.” 


48 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


temple,  that  the  bank  of  earth  must  have  been  of  consider¬ 
able  height.  So  large  were  several  of  these  stones,  that  the 
most  recent  occupants  of  the  citadel,  in  building  upon  the 
plan  of  the  edifice,  did  not  even  roll  them  away,  but  piled 
up  the  wretched  masonry  of  their  dwellings  around  and 
against  them.  It  seems  improbable  that  the  upper  terrace 
was  ever  the  site  of  any  important  monument,  as  some  ves¬ 
tiges  of  it  would  certainly  have  been  found.  It  was  probably 
overgrown  with  verdure  in  ancient  times,  and  served  as  the 
peribolos  of  the  fane.  Here  must  have  stood  the  inscribed 
stones  relating  to  the  temple,  one  of  which,  containing  an 
inventory  of  chattels,  was  brought  to  light  by  the  excava¬ 
tions  in  the  vicinity.1  The  pedestal  of  another  inscription 
was  also  found  upon  the  Acropolis,  and,  as  its  projecting 
mouldings  rendered  it  useless  as  a  building  stone,  it  can 
scarcely  be  supposed  to  have  been  carried  up  the  steep  in 
later  times. 

The  stylobate  of  the  temple  is  fully  three  meters  lower 
than  the  highest  point  of  the  rock,  and  must  consequently 
have  been  at  least  so  much  below  the  level  of  the  upper  ter¬ 
race.  From  the  sea,  the  whole  structure  was  visible  ;  but 
from  the  river  valley,  at  the  north,  little  more  than  the  roof 
could  have  been  seen. 

In  view  of  the  ample  space  provided  by  the  level  bed-rock 
of  the  southern  terrace,  it  may  be  conjectured  that  the  orien¬ 
tation  of  the  temple,  with  its  longitudinal  axis  deviating  from 
the  east,  was  due  to  the  consideration  that  this  position  of 
the  building  permitted  the  gable  of  the  front,  as  well  as  the 
long  horizontal  lines  of  the  side  entablature,  to  be  seen  from 
the  chief  places  of  the  lower  town,  —  the  agora,  the  theatre, 
and  the  direct  ascent  from  the  port.  There  can  at  least  be 
no  doubt  that  this  exceptional  relation  of  the  plan  to  the 

1  Inscriptions  of  Assos,  No.  III. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


49 


points  of  the  compass  should  be  ascribed  either  to  this  inten¬ 
tion  of  exhibiting  the  foreshortened  front,  or  to  a  similar 
motive  of  artistic  composition ;  namely,  the  desire  to  place 
the  building  near  the  seaward  brink  of  the  Acropolis,  in  order 
that  as  much  as  possible  of  the  superstructure  should  be  vis¬ 
ible  from  below.  Foundations  considerably  deeper  would 
have  been  necessary  beneath  the  southwest  corner,  if  the 
front  had  faced  due  east,  and  had  not  been  set  eight  and  a 
half  meters  back  upon  the  summit. 

This  was,  in  truth,  a  fitting  site  for  the  temple  of  the  pro¬ 
tecting  goddess,  the  Virgin  Patroness  of  the  town.  For  the 
fane  was  not  only  visible  from  afar,  but  was  so  placed  that  the 
Assians,  while  offering  sacrifices  for  the  welfare  of  their  state 
within  the  sacred  enclosure,  could  look  far  beyond  the  fortifi¬ 
cation  walls,  the  fertile  fields  of  the  suburbs,  and  the  port 
beneath  the  cliff,  to  the  most  distant  approaches  by  land  and 
by  sea.  On  one  side,  the  view  commanded  the  rugged  paths 
winding  across  the  ranges  of  the  interior,  whence,  in  the  evil 
days  preceding  the  establishment  of  the  supremacy  of  Per- 
gamon,  came  devastating  hordes  of  Gauls  ;  on  the  other,  the 
deep  blue  waters  of  the  Lesbian  Straits,  the  great  high-road 
of  Aeolic  commerce.  Even  the  tiny  islets  of  the  Arginousai 
can  be  distinguished  from  the  Acropolis  of  Assos  ;  and  if,  on 
the  day  of  that  victory  so  disastrous  to  the  best  interests  of 
Greek  culture,  the  horizon  was  not  veiled  by  the  rack  of  the 
storm  which  delayed  the  Spartan  attack,  and  served  as  an 
excuse  for  the  inhumanity  of  the  Athenian  admirals,  a  sharp- 
sighted  observer,  standing  on  the  steps  of  the  temple,  might 
have  followed  the  movements  of  the  rival  fleets,  exulting  over 
the  victory  of  that  power  with  which  his  Demos  was  then 
allied. 

From  stereobate  to  corona,  the  stone  of  which  the  temple 
was  built  was  the  same  as  the  native  rock  upon  which  it 

4 


50 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


stood.  The  only  other  stone  employed  in  connection  with 
the  edifice  was  a  light  volcanic  tufa,  of  the  same  geological 
formation,  from  which  were  carved  the  gargoyles  and  acro- 
teria  of  the  roof.  The  mosaic  of  later  date,  in  the  interior  of 
the  naos,  formed  of  small  cubes  of  black  and  white  marble,  is 
rather  to  be  regarded  as  a  furnishing,  than  as  an  integral  part 
of  the  structure. 

Before  entering  into  a  detailed  consideration  of  the  plan 
and  elevation  of  the  temple,  it  will  be  well  to  give  some  ac¬ 
count  of  the  rock  of  the  Acropolis,  the  peculiarities  of  which 
exercised  a  decisive  influence  upon  the  architectural  style  of 
Assos,  as  well  as  upon  the  topographical  character  of  the  site, 
inasmuch  as  this  material  was  exclusively  employed  in  the 
construction,  not  only  of  the  most  ancient  and  most  impor¬ 
tant  monument,  but  of  almost  all  the  other  edifices  of  the 
Greek  town.  This  stone,  the  second  in  point  of  age  among 
the  three  formations  of  the  kind  in  the  Southern  Troad,  and 
the  product  of  the  most  recent  eruption  of  the  volcano  of 
Assos,  figures  in  Mr.  Diller’s  geological  notes1  as  a  trachyte. 
His  subsequent  examination  of  thin  sections  of  the  rock, 
under  a  microscope,  has  shown,  however,  that  it  is  more  cor¬ 
rectly  to  be  described  as  an  andesite.  The  groundmass, 
which  commonly  forms  but  a  small  portion  of  the  whole,  is 
of  a  fine  granular  and  porous  structure,  and  of  a  gray  or 
occasionally  purplish-gray  color,  the  general  appearance  being 
rendered  lighter  in  tone  by  the  presence  of  innumerable  por- 
phyritic  crystals  of  an  opaque  or  glassy  white.  These  crys¬ 
tals,  which  at  times  attain  a  length  of  eight  or  ten  millimeters, 
give  the  stone  a  superficial  resemblance  to  granite,  —  for 
which,  indeed,  the  formation  at  Assos  has  been  taken  by 
nearly  all  the  earlier  visitors  to  the  site,  and  even  by  those 
who  have  examined  the  reliefs  removed  from  Assos  to  the 

1  The  Geology  of  Assos,  by  J.  S.  Diller  ;  Appendix  to  the  First  Report. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


51 


Louvre.1  This  resemblance  is  increased  by  a  quantity  of 
small  crystals  of  mica  and  other  iron-bearing  minerals,  the 
alteration  of  which  often  produces  small  pits  and  stains. 

In  topographical  and  architectural  respects,  the  most  im¬ 
portant  characteristic  of  this  andesite  is  the  conformity  of  its 
cleavage  to  two  distinctly  marked  joint  planes,  the  one  nearly 
horizontal,  the  other  nearly  vertical.  Mr.  Diller  has  observed 
that  the  longer  axes  of  the  larger  crystals,  and  in  particular 

1  Hunt,  Leake,  Richter,  Prokesch  von  Osten,  Poujoulat,  Texier,  and  Welcker 
(in  the  works  cited  in  the  chapter  on  the  Archaeological  History  of  Assos)  all 
term  the  stone  a  granite  ;  the  last  mentioned,  in  a  very  vivid  and  humorous 
account  of  the  ruins,  characterizing  the  material  as  “  der  hassliche  .  .  .  trau- 
rige,  rauhe,  graue  Granit  von  Assos.”  The  earliest  traveller  who  has  left  us 
any  account  of  the  site  (Manuscript  Journal  of  John  Covel,  1677)  speaks  of  the 
stone  as  “  a  sort  of  gray  marble.”  Among  all  those  who  visited  the  site  previous 
to  the  American  investigations',  the  only  ones  to  recognize  the  all-important  vol¬ 
canic  character  of  the  Acropolis,  and  to  designate  the  stone  as  a  trachyte,  are 
Webb,  Tchihatcheff,  and  Purearitis.  Abbot  approaches  the  truth  in  calling  the 
formation  a  basalt,  and  in  describing  the  walls  as  built  of  granite  or  trachyte. 
He  is  followed  in  this  respect,  as  in  many  others,  by  Schliemann. 

It  may  be  pardonable  that  travellers  who  could  devote  but  few  hours  to  the 
examination  of  such  extensive  remains  should  thus  entirely  mistake  the  nature 
of  the  stone  of  which  they  are  built.  But  what  can  be  said  in  excuse  of  the 
Comte  de  Clarac  ( Musee  de  Sculpture,  Antique  et  Moderne,  vol.  ii.  part  ii., 
Paris,  1841),  who,  writing  as  the  keeper  of  the  Louvre  at  the  time  when  the 
Assos  reliefs  were  removed  thither,  and  describing  the  sawing  asunder  of  the 
blocks  by  lapidaries  under  his  personal  supervision,  asserts  the  stone  to  be  a 
granite,  —  even  basing  upon  this  statement  an  argument  in  respect  to  the  age 
of  the  temple.  This  statement  has  been  accepted  by  many  writers  upon  Greek 
sculpture  for  half  a  century,  and,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  reliefs  have 
during  this  period  been  exposed  to  public  inspection  in  the  most  frequently 
visited  capital  of  Europe,  Overbeck  ( Geschichte  der  Plastik,  2d  edition,  Leipzig, 
1869,  vol.  i  p.  98)  says  the  material  of  these  important  monuments  is  “Gra¬ 
nit  nach  den  Einen,  grober  aschgrauer  Kalkstein  nach  den  Andern”;  while 
Liibke,  in  his  History  of  Sculpture,  simply  calls  it  “  an  ash-gray,  coarse-grained 
limestone.” 

Fully  to  appreciate  these  errors,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  —  while  the 
difference  between  andesite  and  trachyte  is  so  slight  as  to  render  a  definite 
determination  possible  only  after  microscopical  examination,  the  distinction 
being  based  upon  the  percentage  of  certain  of  the  constituent  minerals  —  the 
volcanic  Assos  stone  differs  fundamentally  alike  from  a  primary  crystalline  rock, 
such  as  granite,  and  from  a  metamorphic  rock  like  limestone. 


52 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


those  of  feldspar,  are  not  only  approximately  parallel  to  one 
another,  but  are  parallel  also  to  these  joint  planes.  This  ar¬ 
rangement  is,  indeed,  sufficiently  marked  to  suggest  a  con¬ 
nection  between  the  jointing  and  the  direction  in  which  this 
volcanic  product  flowed  at  the  time  of  its  extrusion  from  the 
crater. 

The  horizontal  plane  divides  the  rock  into  layers,  which  at 
times  closely  resemble  the  stratification  of  rocks  of  sedimen¬ 
tary  origin.  The  terraces  of  the  Acropolis  owe  their  exist¬ 
ence  to  this  peculiarity,  while  in  like  manner  the  upright 
surfaces  of  the  cliffs,  and  of  the  pinnacles  of  rock  which  rise 
in  the  midst  of  the  modern  village,  were  determined  by  the 
vertical  cleavage.  So  variable  is  the  resistance  of  the  layers 
to  the  disintegrating  action  of  water,  that  the  surface  of  the 
cliffs  is  often  deeply  furrowed,  and  in  building  stones  quarried 
from  this  formation  a  series  of  parallel  depressions  is  de¬ 
veloped,  resembling  those  of  a  weathered  sandstone  composed 
of  strata  of  different  degrees  of  durability. 

The  influence  of  this  andesite  upon  the  architecture  of  an¬ 
cient  Assos  is  noticeable  chiefly  in  two  ways,  determined  on 
the  one  hand  by  the  natural  cleavage  planes,  on  the  other  by 
the  extreme  hardness  and  grittiness  of  the  stone. 

The  first  of  these  peculiarities  affected  the  general  design 
and  the  constructive  framework.  It  was  possible  to  quarry 
huge  parallelopipedons  of  the  material  by  the  simplest  meth¬ 
ods  of  wedging.  From  this  fact  resulted  the  massiveness  of 
all  the  edifices,  the  perfection  of  the  city  walls,  —  due  also 
to  the  comparatively  early  adoption  of  accurately  squared 
blocks  for  their  escarps,  —  and  hence,  in  particular,  the 
frequency  of  monolithic  sarcophagi  in  the  Street  of  Tombs. 
It  appears  very  probable  that  the  inhabitants  of  Assos  were 
the  first  among  the  Greeks  systematically  to  employ  such 
enormous  coffers,  at  once  receptacles  of  the  bodies  and  mon- 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


53 


uments  to  the  memory  of  the  dead.  Indeed,  the  sarcoph¬ 
agus  seems  to  have  received  this  name  from  the  famous 
flesh-devouring  stone,  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Assos  ;  this 
material,  as  will  be  shown  in  a  subsequent  chapter,  being 
used  to  hasten  the  decomposition  of  corpses  thus  elevated 
above  the  surface  of  the  earth.  Be  this  as  it  may,  monolithic 
sarcophagi  were  of  greater  prominence  in  the  cemetery  of 
Assos  than  in  that  of  any  other  Greek  town.  The  size  of  the 
blocks  obtainable  permitted  the  builders  of  the  temple  to  ceil 
the  pronaos  —  a  space  having  a  clear  span  of  nearly  three 
meters  —  with  beams  and  coffers  of  stone.  In  the  lower  tywn 
the  columns  of  the  Bouleuterion  and  Palace  Atrium  were 
monolithic.  There  was  thus  little  need  to  resort  to  vaulting ; 
all  the  gates  of  the  tovyn  were  trabeate,  or  terminated  by  the 
false  arch,  and  even  subterranean  passages,  such  as  that  upon 
the  southwest  of  the  Agora,  were  covered  by  lintels.  An  in¬ 
exhaustible  supply  of  the  stone  was  to  be  had  just  outside  the 
walls.  The  ancient  fortifications  alone  must  have  contained 
at  least  one  hundred  thousand  cubic  meters  of  this  material. 

The  second  peculiarity  of  the  andesite  was  of  influence 
chiefly  in  the  carved  details  of  architectural  decoration.  A 
series  of  experiments  which  have  lately  been  made  upon  this 
stone  by  a  lapidary,  under  the  supervision  of  the  writer,  have 
shown  it  to  be  one  of  the  most  intractable  materials  ever 
chosen  for  architectural  purposes.  While  the  granular  and 
porous  structure  of  the  groundmass  gives  to  smaller  blocks 
a  rough  and  angular  fracture,  the  great  number  and  variety 
of  crystals  embedded  in  it  make  the  stone  excessively  gritty. 
To  give  a  homely  illustration,  it  was  often  remarked  that  one 
day’s  walking  among  the  volcanic  rocks  of  the  Southwestern 
Troad,  or  over  the  ruins  of  Assos,  would  wear  the  soles  of 
shoes  more  than  a  week’s  excursion  among  the  limestone  for¬ 
mations  on  the  southern  slope  of  Ida.  Even  with  the  sharp- 


54 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


est  tools,  it  is  a  difficult  task  to  cut  the  andesite  to  exact 
surfaces  or  to  delicate  forms,  and  without  emery  wheels  it  is 
impossible  to  render  it  smooth.  The  effects  of  this  character¬ 
istic  are  evident  alike  in  the  choice  of  the  architectural  style, 
and  in  the  design  and  proportion  of  subordinate  features.  It 
would  have  been  altogether  out  of  the  question  to  adopt  Ionic 
forms  for  edifices  constructed  of  such  a  material,  and  in  no  in¬ 
stance  is  this  more  ornate  style  —  sufficiently  common  on  the 
island  of  Lesbos  and  in  the  Northern  Troad  —  known  to  have 
been  adopted  at  Assos.  From  the  same  cause,  the  primitive 
stone-cutters  of  this  temple  found  it  necessary  altogether  to 
omit  certain  features  of  the  entablature,  notably  the  trunnels 
of  the  regulas  and  mutules  and  the  terminal  plinths  of  the 
triglyphs,  and  to  adopt,  in  all  small  members,  forms  of  greater 
thickness  and  less  projection  than  those  which,  at  the  time 
of  building,  had  come  to  be  regarded  as  normal.  Thus  the 
arrises  of  the  shaft  were  blunt,  the  tainia  and  regulas  exces¬ 
sively  flat ;  the  drip  of  the  corona  was  not  undercut,  and  its 
kyma  was  much  larger  and  simpler  than  in  other  examples 
of  the  style.  Similar  peculiarities  are  to  be  observed  in  all 
the  edifices  of  Assos. 

The  resistance  of  the  andesite  to  weathering  depends 
greatly  upon  the  stratum  from  which  it  is  quarried,  and  the 
position  in  which  it  is  placed.  Thus,  some  of  the  stones 
of  the  lower  wall  of  the  great  eastern  gate,  having  been 
exposed  to  the  action  of  percolating  water  for  the  last  five 
hundred  years,  may  readily  be  crumbled  with  the  finger-nail. 
This  softening  of  the  andesite  is  plainly  due  to  the  degenera¬ 
tion  of  the  feldspar  which  enters  so  largely  into  its  composi¬ 
tion.  Being  unprotected  by  crystals  of  quartz,  the  feldspar  is 
hydrated  by  long  exposure  to  the  atmosphere,  and  thus  trans¬ 
formed  into  kaolin  clay.  On  the  other  hand,  those  carved 
stones  which  have  been  buried  in  dry  earth,  or  which,  remain- 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


55 

ing  above  ground,  have  been  sheltered  from  the  storms  of 
dust  that  among  the  volcanic  formations  near  Assos  exercise 
the  well-known  action  of  the  sand-blast,  display  forms  nearly 
as  sharp  and  firm  as  they  can  have  been  when  newly  cut. 
In  regard  to  the  temple  itself,  many  of  the  arrises  of  the  col¬ 
umns,  and  the  rings  of  the  capitals,  are  still  perfectly  sharp. 
It  may  even  be  doubted  whether  the  outlines  of  the  sphinxes 
from  the  eastern  front,  or  of  the  lion  and  hind,  have  been  ap¬ 
preciably  blunted  during  the  twenty-three  centuries  or  more 
which  have  elapsed  since  they  received  the  last  strokes  from 
the  chisel  of  the  provincial  sculptor. 

The  following  account  of  the  arrangement  and  of  the  con¬ 
structive  details  of  the  temple  supplements  and  corrects  the 
description  given  in  the  First  Report.1  So  far  as  possible,  rep¬ 
etition  will  be  avoided ;  still,  the  minute  investigations  made 
during  the  two  years  subsequent  to  the  publication  of  those 
preliminary  notes  have  afforded  so  much  further  information 
concerning  the  design  and  execution  of  this  monument,  that 
it  will  be  necessary  to  touch  upon  several  points  treated  in 
the  previous  volume. 

The  aberration  of  the  magnetic  needle,  especially  noticeable 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Acropolis,  proved  to  be  so  great,  that  no 
process  of  reversion  could  warrant  entire  dependence  upon  its 
indications.  The  true  pole  was  hence  determined  at  the  mo¬ 
ment  when  the  north  star  passed  the  meridian,  on  the  night 
of  November  28,  1881.  The  angle  thus  obtained  proved  the 

1  First  Report,  pp.  80-121.  Compare  the  reservations  which  were  there 
made  :  “  The  following  account  .  .  .  must  be  prefaced  by  a  reminder  that  the 
time  has  not  come  for  a  thorough  and  conclusive  publication.  It  is  evident 
the  descriptions  of  monuments  but  recently  discovered,  and  in  part  still  hidden 
beneath  the  earth,  will  be  extended,  and  possibly  corrected  as  the  studies 
upon  the  site  advance.  Indeed,  many  points  are  touched  upon  in  this  report 
only  to  indicate  the  direction  and  scope  of  the  work.” 


5^ 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


deviation  of  the  main  axis  of  the  temple,  south  of  east,  to  be 
150  14'  40". 

The  right  angles  at  the  corners  of  the  plan  were  laid  out 
by  the  Greek  architect  with  an  accuracy  surprising  even  when 
examined  by  modern  instruments  of  precision.  A  deviation 
of  but  six  minutes  could  be  detected,  the  corners  ©f  the 
northeast  and  southwest  being  this  much  too  small.  This 
deviation  in  the  length  of  the  temple  stylobate  amounts  to 
an  error  of  only  54  mm.,  or  about  two  inches,  in  the  length  of 
one  hundred  feet. 

The  foundations  of  the  walls  and  columns  were,  without 
exception,  placed  directly  upon  the  native  rock,  which  was  not 
more  than  half  a  meter  beneath  the  pavement  of  the  naos,  and 
at  its  greatest  depth,  not  more  than  1.15  m.  beneath  the  lowest 
step.  At  the  point  last  mentioned,  namely,  the  southwest 
corner  of  the  building,  a  massive  substructure  was  provided 
by  four  courses  of  squared  stones,  measuring  respectively 
35,  30,  25,  and  25  cm.  in  thickness,  each  of  which  projected 
about  3  cm.  beyond  that  resting  upon  it.  Elsewhere  the 
long  blocks  forming  the  first  step  were  placed  directly  on 
the  rock,  a  level  bed  being  cut  to  receive  them.  This  was 
the  case  along  the  greater  extent  of  the  northern  and  west¬ 
ern  sides  ;  indeed,  throughout  exactly  one  half  of  its  length, 
the  juncture  between  the  pavement  of  the  temenos  and  the 
steps  of  the  temple  was  a  juncture  between  the  tooled  surface 
of  the  native  rock  and  accurately  squared  blocks  quarried 
from  it. 

The  plan  of  the  building,  in  its  present  condition  (Fig.  4), 
exhibits  some  points  which  were  omitted  from  the  drawing  of 
the  floor  published  as  Plate  7  in  the  First  Report ;  —  notably 
the  important  pry  and  dog  holes,  the  remains  of  the  con¬ 
crete  foundation  of  the  mosaic  extending  beyond  the  cubes 
of  colored  stone,  the  weathered  standpoints  of  various  bases, 


53 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


which  probably  supported  votive  statues  or  inscriptions,  the 
bed  lines  of  the  inner  course  of  the  cella  wall,  and,  finally, 
the  fractures  of  the  paving  slabs. 

The  stones  of  the  steps  vary  in  length  from  one  to  some¬ 
what  over  three  meters.  In  width  the  dimensions  are  more 
regular,  seldom  being  less  than  0.9  or  more  than  1.1  m.  In 
the  case  of  the  stylobate  blocks,  the  upper  surface,  forming 
part  of  the  pteroma  floor,  was  planned  to  have  a  regular 
width  of  1. 1  m.,  and  upon  the  northern  side,  which  was  evi- 


Fig.  5.  Stone  in  Foundations  of  Temple,  with  Bed-moulds  for  Metal 

Castings.  —  Isometric. 

dently  laid  first,  no  deviation  from  this  measurement  is  to  be 
observed.  The  supply  of  accurately  quarried  stones  seems  to 
have  given  out,  however,  as  the  work  advanced,  and  upon  the 
southern  side  there  is  much  irregularity  in  the  shapes  and 
sizes.  Some  of  the  inner  blocks  of  the  lower  step  bear  a 
bordering  fillet,  which  proves  them  to  have  been  originally 
intended  for  the  outside,  and  to  have  been  rejected  on  ac¬ 
count  of  some  defect.  Instances  of  this  are  the  fifth  stone 
upon  the  eastern,  and  the  fifth  stone  upon  the  western  side, 
counting  from  the  north. 

A  most  interesting  case  of  the  employment  of  older  mate- 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


59 


rials  —  in  default  of  the  regularly  hewn  stones  which  had, 
without  doubt,  been  prepared  in  the  quarry  is  presented  by 
one  of  the  inner  blocks  of  the  southern  lower  step,  exposed  by 
the  displacement  of  the  superposed  stylobate  during  the  ex¬ 
cavations.  In  the  stone  in  question  are  cut  two  bed-moulds 
for  the  casting  of  primitive  sledge-hammers  or  battle-axes 
(Fig.  5).  These  moulds  are  in  shape  almost  exactly  alike, 
but  they  differ  in  size  ;  the  larger  being  40  cm*  f°nS>  an(^ 
20  cm.  on  the  heft,  the  smaller  being  32  cm.  long.  The  depth, 

5  cm.,  in  both  cases,  must  have  given  the  full  thickness  of  the 
object  ;  there  were  no  ducts  by  which  the  molten  metal  could 
be  run  into  the  hollows,  and  consequently  there  can  have  been 
no  corresponding  upper  mould.  The  process  of  casting  must 
have  been  of  the  rudest  kind.  The  beds,  after  having  been 
filled,  can  have  been  covered  only  with  a  flat  stone,  so  as  to 
render  the  upper  side  of  the  hammer-heads  as  even  as  pos¬ 
sible  ;  and  the  newly  cast  implements,  after  having  cooled, 
must  have  been  so  loose  in  the  stone  that  they  could  easily 
be  pried  out.  It  was,  of  course,  impossible  to  heat  so  large 
a  block  in  the  manner  usually  employed  by  the  bronze- 
founders  of  primitive  times. 

A  mould  of  the  same  kind,  for  a  battle-axe  of  much  smaller 
size,  was  unearthed  by  Dr.  Schliemann  at  Hissarlik  ; 1  others 
are  reported  to  have  been  found  in  the  lacustrine  settlements 
of  Switzerland,2  and  among  the  prehistoric  remains  of  Hun¬ 
gary,3  and  of  Sardinia.4  There  are  no  definite  indications 

1  Schliemann  (Heinrich),  Ilios,  the  City  and  Country  of  the  Trojans,  London, 
1880,  Fig.  601. 

2  Gross  (Victor),  Resultats  des  Recherches  dans  les  Lacs  de  la  Suisse  occidentale, 
Zurich,  1876,  Plate  17  ;  and  a  later  publication  of  the  same  author,  Les  dernilres 
Trouvailles  dans  les  Habitations  Lacustres  du  Lac  de  Bienne,  Porrentruy,  1879, 
Plate  1. 

3  Hampel  (Joseph),  Antiquites  Prehistoriques  de  la  Hongrie,  Esztercom, 
1877,  Plate  14. 

4  Crespi  (Vincenzo),  II  Museo  d’  Antichith.  di  Cagliari,  Cagliari,  without  date. 


6o 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 

to  prove  the  age  of  the  mould  thus  curiously  preserved 
among  the  foundation  stones  of  the  temple  of  Assos  ;  but 
the  fact  that  the  block,  although  regarded  as  unfit  for  its 
original  use  at  the  time  of  the  Persian  wars,  was  never¬ 
theless  thus  ready  at  the  builder’s  hand,  gives  some  ground 
for  the  belief  that  it  had  been  employed  by  the  primitive 
Greeks  themselves,  rather  than  by  any  prehistoric  race.  If 
this  supposition  be  deemed  inadmissible,  it  must  be  assumed 
that  the  squared  stone  containing  the  moulds  had  been 
found  by  the  Greeks  of  the  fifth  century  before  Christ, 
while  digging  for  the  foundations  of  the  temple. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe,  that,  although  the  block  was 
enclosed  upon  all  sides,  (not  even  its  outer  edge  having  been 
used  as  a  step,)  the  hollows  were  accurately  filled  in  with 
pieces  of  stone  cut  to  the  exact  shape  of  the  objects  once 
cast,  in  the  true  antique  spirit  of  admitting  no  imperfect 
member  in  the  construction  of  the  sacred  edifice. 

The  stylobate  blocks  were  invariably  so  tooled  that  the 
lateral  surface  of  juncture  did  not  comprise  the  entire  side 
of  the  stone,  but  was  restricted  to  narrow  bands  adjoining 
the  edges.  To  effect  this,  a  slightly  depressed  middle  field 
was  cut  upon  the  end  of  the  block  with  a  brush  hammer, 
this  rougher  plane  being  bordered  by  fillets,  varying  in 
width  from  five  to  ten  centimeters,  which  were  tried  and 
smoothed  until  an  accurate  joint  was  obtained.  This  emi¬ 
nently  rational  method  of  jointing  was  universally,  and  in 
every  age,  employed  by  the  architects  of  Greece.  As  we 
learn  from  the  celebrated  inscription  of  Lebadeia,^  which 
relates  to  the  stone-cutting  and  laying  of  a  like  pteroma 

1  First  published  by  Koumanoudes  (Stephen  A.)  in  the  ’  AQvvcuov,  vol.  iv. 
(Athens,  1876) ;  more  readily  accessible  in  Fabricius  (Ernestus),  De  Architect 
tura  Graeca  Commentationes  Epigraphicae ,  Berolini,  1881 ;  and  in  Choisy  (Au¬ 
guste),  Etudes  Epigraph iques  stir  V Architecture  Grecque,  Paris,  1884.  All  the 
details  of  the  stone-work  of  Greek  pavements  are  fully  described  in  this  most 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  18S3. 


61 


pavement,  joints  thus  cut  were  designated  by  the  term 
anathyrosis,  —  evidently  on  account  of  a  fanciful  resemblance 
of  the  central  field  to  a  door-opening,  framed  by  its  lintel 


Fig.  6  Employment  of  Lifting  Dog  in  laying  the  lower  Steps. 

Isometric. 


and  jambs.  Surfaces  of  contact  thus  tooled  may  be  seen  in 
the  illustrations  of  the  step  construction  (Figs.  6  and  7),  and 
in  those  showing  blocks  of  the  inner  epistyle  (Fig.  13)  and 
corona  (Fig.  15).  The  last  touch  was  given  by  grinding  the 

interesting  antique  specification,  from  the  dimensions  and  forms  of  the  stones, 
the  tools  for  cutting  them,  and  the  rulers  and  reddle  for  testing  the  accuracy 
of  their  surfaces,  to  the  methods  of  casting  the  metallic  cramps  and  washing 
the  joints  with  a  solution  of  nitre.  The  verb  avadvpovv  occurs  in  lines  121 
and  142  of  the  inscription. 


62 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


fillets  with  a  flat  stone,  or  by  cutting  into  the  joints  with  a 
sand-saw.1  The  process  of  adjustment  was  the  more  easy, 
as  the  face  of  the  stone  which  it  was  necessary  thus  to  re- 


Fig.  7.  Pry-holes  and  Levers  employed  in  laying  the  Steps. 

Isometric.  , 


move  had  been  greatly  decreased  in  extent  by  the  sinking 
of  the  middle  field.  Notwithstanding  the  coarseness  of  the 
material  used  at  Assos,  it  was  possible  by  these  means  to 

1  In  the  Lebadeia  inscription  the  terms  employed  for  these  processes  are 
Tpi/uL/xaToAoye?t'  (line  162)  and  diro^iu  (line  125). 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  18S3.  63 

abut  the  stones  so  closely  that  not  even  a  needle  can  to-day 
be  inserted  between  them. 

The  blocks  of  the  stylobate  were  lifted,  and  set  as  nearly  as 
possible  in  place,  by  powerful  derricks.  This  is  proved  by 
the  presence  upon  the  end  surfaces  of  deep,  square  holes, 
which  were  cut  to  receive  the  hooks  of  the  tackling,  and  were 
so  placed  that  the  stone  would  swing  with  its  bed  in  a  hori¬ 
zontal  plane.  In  exceptional  cases,  two  of  these  holes  appear 
upon  either  side. 

The  case  was  different  with  the  blocks  of  the  lower  step, 
and  of  the  foundations  upon  the  same  level  with  them.  The 
upper  surfaces  of  these  not  being  exposed  to  view,  it  was  possi¬ 
ble  to  chisel  upon  them  an  oblique  slot,  —  about  in  the  middle 
of  the  upper  edge  of  the  stone,  on  that  side  against  which  the 
next  was  to  abut,  —  and  through  this  to  disengage  the  inner 
arm  of  the  iron  dog  by  which  the  adjoining  block  was  lifted 
and  set.  This  will  be  made  clear  by  Fig.  6.  Where  the 
stones  of  the  stylobate,  or  of  the  pteroma  pavement,  are  re¬ 
moved,  the  greater  number  of  those  beneath  them  are  seen  to 
have  cut  upon  the  upper  side  one  of  these  slanting  notches  of 
rectangular  section,  about  4  cm.  deep,  from  5  to  6  cm.  broad, 
and  7  to  10  cm.  long.  A  small  portion  of  the  lateral  joint 
surface  of  the  adjoining  stone  is  hereby  exposed,  and  across 
the  lower  half  of  this  is  seen  a  sinking  of  sufficient  depth  to 
receive  and  firmly  hold  one  of  the  sharply  pointed  arms  of  the 
lifting  tongs  employed  in  connection  with  the  derrick  tackle. 
To  the  notches  and  sinkings  cut  upon  the  stones  for  this  pur¬ 
pose  the  name  dog-holes  may  be  given. 

Although  they  appear  to  have  hitherto  escaped  the  atten¬ 
tion  of  inquirers  into  the  details  of  antique  architecture,  these 
marks  are  of  importance,  inasmuch  as  they  indicate  the  direc¬ 
tion  from  which  the  process  of  laying  the  courses  was  carried 
on.  In  the  temple  of  Assos,  for  instance,  it  may  thus  be  seen 


64 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


that  the  masons  commenced  work  upon  the  northwestern 
corner  of  the  building,  where  the  native  rock  was  highest,  and 
continued  from  this  point,  in  one  direction  along  the  northern 
side  and  eastern  front,  in  the  other  along  the  western  front. 
The  courses  met  not  far  from  the  middle  of  the  southern  side, 
where  the  last  stone  laid  may  be  recognized  in  the  eleventh 
from  the  southeastern  corner.  This  last  stone  was  accu¬ 
rately  fitted  in  between  those  adjoining  it,  and  was  hence  pro¬ 
vided  on  both  ends  with  sinkings  to  receive  the  claws  of  the 
dog-iron,  but  with  no  oblique  slots  for  their  release.  It  is  fur¬ 
ther  evident,  upon  the  eastern  front  at  least,  that  the  blocks 
which  served  as  the  lower  step  were  laid  earlier  than  the  inner 
ones  of  the  same  course  ;  this  being  the  natural  consequence 
of  the  outer  stones  following  an  alignment  determined  by  the 
architect. 

When  a  shifting  of  the  blocks  to  their  final  position  was 
necessary,  this  was  effected  by  means  of  a  heavy  crowbar,  the 
purchase  for  which  was  provided  by  cutting  a  groove,  one  or 
one  and  a  half  centimeters  deep,  upon  the  upper  surface  of  the 
subjacent  stone,  at  a  distance  of  ten  or  fifteen  centimeters  from 
the  edge  of  the  block  to  be  moved.  By  the  leverage  thus  ex¬ 
erted,  the  largest  stone  could  be  slid  along  upon  the  level  bed 
provided  by  the  course  beneath,  from  the  position  in  which  it 
had  been  set  by  the  derrick  to  the  closest  contact  with  the  ad¬ 
joining  block.  It  cannot  be  determined,  from  the  marks  left 
upon  the  stone,  whether  the  crowbar  was  straight,  and  em¬ 
ployed  with  a  block  of  wood  or  metal  to  transmit  the  power,  or 
whether  it  was  curved,  so  as  to  exercise  its  pressure  directly 
upon  the  stone.  The  former  method,  shown  at  A  in  the 
illustration  (Fig.  7),  would  seem  to  be  the  more  natural  and 
easy ;  but  the  presence  of  two  grooves  in  exceptional  cases, 
when  the  stone  may  have  had  to  be  moved  a  greater  distance, 
would,  on  the  other  hand,  indicate  the  adoption  of  a  lever  of 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1S83. 


65 


peculiar  shape,  such  as  that  shown  at  B.  An  instance  of  two 
grooves,  cut  for  a  single  leverage,  is  to  be  observed  upon  a 
stone  in  the  foundations  of  the  cella  wall,  on  the  western 
side,  and  next  but  one  to  the  southwest  corner.  See  Plan, 
Fig.  4. 

Like  the  anathyrosis,  the  grooves  cut  for  the  purpose 
of  thus  shifting  the  separate  stones  of  a  course  appear 
upon  the  remains  of  Greek  buildings  of  every  province 
and  of  every  age.  They  may  be  observed  upon  all  the 
varieties  of  rectangular  masonry  which  form  the  city  walls 
of  Assos,  and  belong  to  periods  widely  remote,  —  to  cen¬ 
turies  anterior  to  Alexander,  and  subsequent  to  Constan¬ 
tine  the  Great.  The  indications  of  this  method  of  prying 
stones  were  first  noti.ced  by  Dorpfeld,1  by  whom  they  have 
been  termed  “  Stemmlocher.”  So  far  as  the  present  writer 
is  aware,  they  have  not  been  referred  to  by  any  English 
writer  upon  the  details  of  antique  architecture,  and  the  name 
pry-holes  may  be  proposed  as  the  technical  name  of  these 
grooves.  Their  great  importance  to  the  investigator  of  Greek 
remains  will  be  evident  from  the  fact  that  it  is  possible  to  as¬ 
certain,  from  a  comparison  of  the  spacing,  the  position  of 
blocks  once  resting  upon  the  course  in  which  such  marks 
appear.  In  the  temple  of  Assos,  for  instance,  although  the 
stylobate  of  the  eastern  and  western  fronts  has  entirely  dis¬ 
appeared,  it  may  thus  be  determined  that  the  one  was  com¬ 
posed  of  six,  the  other  of  seven  stones,  of  greater  length  than 
the  average  of  those  upon  the  sides  ;  while  the  shortness  of 
the  blocks  which  are  in  like  manner  seen  to  have  formed  the 
lower  course  of  the  cella  wall  indicates  this  to  have  begun 
with  a  plinth  of  considerable  height,  as  was  the  case  with  the 
cella  wall  of  the  Parthenon. 

Dorpfeld  (Wilhelm),  Untersuchungen  am  Parthenon,  in  the  ATittheilungen  des 
deutschen  archdologischen  Institutes  in  A  then,  vol.  vi.,  Athen,  1881. 

5 


66 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


In  the  case  of  both  the  steps,  the  joints  were  bordered  up¬ 
on  the  exposed  face  by  fillets,  averaging  5  cm.  in  width,  and 
often  rising  not  less  than  5  mm.  These  projections  were  cut 
upon  the  tread  of  the  lower  step  to  within  about  35  mm.  of 
the  following  riser  ;  and  on  the  stylobate,  when  not  under  a 
column,  they  were  continued  across  the  entire  stone.  Their 
purpose  was  evidently  to  obviate,  in  so  far  as  possible,  the 
chipping  and  defacement  of  the  edges  during  the  construc¬ 
tion  of  the  building.  And,  as  was  the  case  with  the  similar 
makeshifts  observable  upon  the  pavements  of  the  Propylaia 
of  Athens  and  the  great  temple  of  Paestum,  their  subsequent 
obliteration  does  not  seem  to  have  been  considered  necessary 
to  the  completion  of  the  edifice. 

The  blocks  of  the  stylobate,  and  some  of  the  outer  stones 
of  the  lower  step,  and  those  of  the  foundation  course  be¬ 
neath  them,  were  bonded  together  by  cramps  of  wrought 
iron.  These  cramps,  averaging  21  cm.  in  length,  were  thin 
and  light,  seldom  exceeding  12  by  16  mm.  in  section.  Their 
ends  were  bent  over  to  more  than  a  right  angle,  so  that, 
when  once  set,  they  could  not  possibly  be  loosened  from  the 
stone.  The  ends  of  the  slots  cut  for  their  reception  were 
often  curved  and  pointed,  as  shown  in  Fig.  6.  Although 
the  floor  of  the  temple  was  trodden  under  foot  and  exposed 
to  weathering  for  wellnigh  two  thousand  years  before  being 
covered  by  the  earth,  the  majority  of  these  irons  are  still  in 
position,  and  have  suffered  little  from  rust.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  lead  in  which  they  were  set  has  been  in  great  part 
transformed  into  a  white  oxide,  through  the  action  of  the  car¬ 
bonic  acid  of  the  atmosphere.  One  cramp,  in  an  exception¬ 
ally  fine  state  of  preservation,  was  taken  from  the  southern 
side  of  the  stylobate,  and  is  now  in  the  Boston  Museum 
(No.  M.  581).  The  only  stylobate  blocks  not  thus  bonded  to¬ 
gether  upon  either  end  were  four  in  the  middle  of  the  northern 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


67 


side.  As  these  were  among  the  first  to  be  laid,  it  would  ap¬ 
pear  that  the  precaution  came  to  be  regarded  as  more  neces¬ 
sary  the  further  the  work  advanced.  At  the  corners  of  the 
plan  two  cramps  are  attached  to  each  end  of  the  first  one  or 
two  stones.  Such  a  joining  of  the  steps  by  bars  of  metal  was 
of  course  a  disfigurement  of  the  finely  tooled  surface  of  the 
pavement,  and  the  temple  of  Assos  is  in  this  respect  entirely 
exceptional  among  the  constructions  of  the  Greeks.  It  is  to 
be  remarked,  however,  that  the  dark  color  of  the  stone  ren¬ 
dered  the  contrast  between  the  materials  less  apparent  than  it 
would  have  been  in  the  case  of  buildings  of  marble  or  poros. 

The  third  stone  upon  the  southern  side  of  the  stylobate, 
counting  from  the  west,  was  cracked  in  setting,  and  was  pro¬ 
vided  upon  its  vertical  face  with  a  cramp 
of  iron  of  the  same  shape  as  those  employed 
upon  the  upper  surface.  So  well  did  this 
repair  answer  its  purpose,  that  the  fissure 
would  not  have  been  detected 
but  for  the  presence  of  the 
iron. 

In  the  case  of  the  fifth  block 
of  the  lower  step  on  the  main 
front,  counting  from  the 


north,  a  hole  is  cut  through 
the  stone  in  an  oblique 
line,  or,  to  speak  more 
correctly,  in  the  arc  of 
a  circle  (Fig.  8).  This  hole,  opening  upon  both  the  riser 
and  the  tread  at  a  distance  of  20  cm.  from  the  edge,  is  of 
oval  section,  the  axes  measuring  9  and  12  cm.  Its  position 
corresponded  to  the  side  of  the  column  next  to  the  central 
intercolumniation.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  the  eyelet  thus  carefully  chiselled  was  to  provide  a 


Fig.  8.  Perforation  of  the  lower  Step 
Eastern  Front. 


68 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


hold  for  the  rope  by  which  the  animals  intended  for  sacri¬ 
fice  before  the  fane  were  tethered.  Holes  of  the  same  kind 
were  cut  through  the  lower  step  of  the  Heraion  at  Olympia,1 
before  the  columns,  and  the  scholars  who  have  called  atten- 
tion  to  this  fact  give  for  it  this  explanation. 

The  stylobate  blocks  of  the  front  and  of  the  rear  of  the 
building  had  all  been  displaced,  and,  as  but  two  of  them  could 
be  found  throughout  the  entire  city,  appear  to  have  been  re¬ 
cut  for  building  purposes,  or  deeply  imbedded  in  late  fortifi¬ 
cation  walls.  Of  the  two  brought  to  light  upon  the  slopes 
of  the  Acropolis,  one,  measuring  0.93  by  2.245  m-,  was  from 
the  east,  and  by  the  aid  of  the  shift-holes  could  be  identified 
as  the  third  block  from  the  north  ;  the  other,  measuring  1.15 
by  1.72  m.,  was  from  the  west,  and  adjoined  the  southwest 
corner.  On  neither  were  the  traces  of  the  columns  sufficiently 
distinct  to  indicate  the  width  of  the  front  intercolumniations 
more  accurately  than  had  been  possible  by  a  calculation  based 
on  analogy. 

The  most  careful  levellings,  repeated  and  reversed,  failed  to 
show  the  slightest  trace  of  an  intentional  and  regular  curva¬ 
ture  of  the  horizontals.  On  the  contrary,  the  steps  and  floor 
were  found  to  be  surprisingly  even,  and  the  displacement  of 
the  blocks  by  the  many  earthquakes  which  have  overthrown 
the  cities  of  this  part  of  Asia  Minor  much  less  than  might 
have  been  expected.  This  immunity  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the 
fact  that  the  pavement  of  the  building  rested,  in  great  part, 
directly  upon  the  native  rock,  without  the  intervention  of 
deep  foundations. 

In  regard  to  the  construction  of  the  pteroma  floor,  and  the 
laying  of  the  bed  of  chips  beneath  it,  little  need  be  added  to 

1  Die  Ausgrabungen  zu  Olympia.  Vol.  III.  Uebersicht  der  Arbeitenund Funde 
vom  Winter  und  Friihjahr  1S77-7S.  Iierausgegeben  von  E.  Curtius,  F.  Adler, 
und  G.  Treu.  Berlin,  1879. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


69 

the  account  given  in  the  First  Report.  On  more  mature  con¬ 
sideration,  however,  it  appears  questionable  whether  the  origi¬ 
nal  intention  was  to  cover  the  stone  pavement  by  a  layer  of 
cement,  as  was  customary  in  the  Doric  monuments  of  Sicily. 
The  irregularity  of  the  jointing  in  the  pteroma  floor  of  the 
temple  of  Assos  is  not  greater  than  that  noticeable  through- 
out  the  building  ;  and  the  slight  differences  in  level  between 
the  upper  surfaces  of  the  inner  blocks  and  that  of  the  stylo¬ 
bate,  as  well  as  the  interstices  next  to  the  cella  wall,  now  so 
plainly  seen,  are,  at  least  in  part,  to  be  ascribed  to  the  settling 
of  those  stones  which  did  not  rest  immediately  upon  the  na¬ 
tive  rock,  or  upon  massive  foundations.  At  Assos,  as  at 
Lebadeia,  that  portion  of  the  lower  surface  of  the  pavement 
blocks  which  was  above  the  bed  of  chips  was  somewhat  more 
roughly  tooled  than  the  band  next  to  the  outer  edge  and  in 
contact  with  the  inner  stones  of  the  lower  step  ;  but  this  dif¬ 
ference  in  treatment  was  much  less  marked  in  the  archaic 
than  in  the  later  construction.  At  Lebadeia  the  stones  of 
the  pavement  were  not  allowed  to  rest  upon  the  filling  at  all, 
a  space  “not  wider  than  a  little  finger”1  intervening.  At 
Assos  this  precaution  was  impossible,  inasmuch  as  no  solid 
bearing  was  provided  for  the  inner  ends  of  the  blocks,  even 
in  those  cases  where  they  extended  across  the  entire  width  of 
the  pteroma. 

The  stone  sill  of  the  naos  door  is  upon  exactly  the  same 
level  as  the  upper  surface  of  the  stylobate.  The  mosaic 
pavement  in  the  interior  is  13  cm.  above  this,  — the  difference 
in  height  having,  without  doubt,  been  equalized  by  a  revetting 
sill  of  bronze  or  of  marble. 

The  pattern  of  the  mosaic  has  already  been  described  ;  a 
detailed  drawing  of  the  corner  which  remains  may,  however, 
be  given  to  show  the  shape  of  each  small  stone  (Fig.  9). 

1  Lebadeia  Inscription,  line  115. 


70 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Fig.  9.  Detail  of  Mosaic  Pavement,  Southeastern  Corner. 


These  separate  pieces  of  black  and  white  marble,  embedded 
in  a  thick  layer  of  cement,  were  about  5  cm.  in  depth,  and 
were  originally  flushed  over  with  a  fine  stucco,  which  com- 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


71 


pletely  filled  the  joints  between  them.  Cubes  of  a  bright 
yellow  stone  and  of  a  hard-burnt  red  brick  were  also  found  in 
the  vicinity.  Their  place  in  the  composition  cannot  now  be 
determined;  it  is  only  certain  that  the  narrow  band  which 
separated  the  wave  ornament  from  the  field  of  diamond  pat¬ 
tern  was  of  one  of  these  colors. 

The  arrangement  of  this  flooring  of  the  naos  has  already 
been  made  to  figure  in  the  controversy  carried  on  by  the  ad¬ 
vocates  of  various  modes  of  illuminating  the  interior  of  Greek 
temples.  It  has  even  been  held  to  indicate  the  form  of  the 
imaginary  hypaithron,  or  other  opening  in  the  roof  for  the  ad¬ 
mission  of  daylight.  In  the  latest  contribution  to  this  subject, 
Fergusson  1  remarks  concerning  the  pavement  of  the  temple 
of  Assos  :  “The  ornamental  part  of  it  is  13  feet  wide,  and  the 
space  between  the  outer  face  of  the  cella  walls  and  the  pave¬ 
ment  is  between  6  feet  6  inches  and  6  feet  9  inches,  or  as 
nearly  as  may  be  the  distance  between  the  outside  of  the  walls 
and  the  inner  lines  of  the  cella  at  Bassae.  From  this  I  gather 
that  there  were  internal  pillars  or  pilasters,  which  thickened 
the  external  walls  of  the  cella  to  the  extent  of  7  feet  at  least, 
which  could  only  have  been  done  if  it  were  wanted  to  support 
an  opaion  or  some  contrivance  for  lighting  the  cella.”  To 
this  it  must  be  replied,  that,  as  was  shown  upon  the  plan  of 
the  temple  given  in  the  First  Report  (Plate  7),  the  remains  of 
the  mosaic  itself  extend  so  far  beyond  the  ornamental  field,  on 
both  sides,  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  pilasters  or  other 
supports  having  stood  where  Mr.  Fergusson  supposes.  More¬ 
over,  the  layer  of  cement,  in  which  the  separate  pieces  of 
marble  were  imbedded,  remains,  as  was  explicitly  stated  in  the 
text  (p.  83),  to  a  considerably  greater  extent  than  the  pattern 
shown  upon  the  plan  ;  reaching  quite  to  the  inner  side  of  the 

1  Fergusson  (James),  The  Parthenon  ;  an  Essay  on  the  Mode  by  which  Light 
was  introduced  into  Greek  and  Roman  Temples,  London,  1883,  p.  90. 


72 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE . 


enclosing  wall.  That  such  supports  as  Fergusson  is  obliged 
by  his  theory  to  assume  can  never  have  existed  at  Assos  is 
also  proved  beyond  a  doubt  by  the  entire  lack  of  substructures 
for  them.  The  foundations  for  all  the  masonry  are  invariably 
placed  upon  the  native  rock  ;  while,  as  was  likewise  stated, 
the  entire  area  of  the  naos  was  found  to  be  covered  beneath 
the  ancient  floor  with  fine  earth,  which  is  plainly  the  original 
bedding  of  the  pavement.  In  other  words,  it  is  certain  that 
the  ceiling  and  roof  of  the  naos  extended  from  wall  to  wall 
in  a  single  span,  and  that  such  a  clerestory  as  Fergusson 
imagines  was  impossible. 

The  suggestion  made  in  the  First  Report,  that  the  mosaic 
floor  is  of  a  period  later  than  the  building  itself,  was  fully  con¬ 
firmed  by  the  investigations  of  the  second  year.  At  several 
points  the  filling  of  earthen  chips  beneath  the  cement  bedding 
of  the  mosaic  was  removed  and  sifted,  and  the  objects  taken 
therefrom  were  compared  with  those  which  were,  in  like  man¬ 
ner,  found  immediately  under  the  stone  pavement  of  the 
pteroma.  From  the  latter  deposit,  which  had  remained  un¬ 
disturbed  since  the  construction  of  the  temple,  were  taken  a 
number  of  rude  sherds  of  pottery.  These  were  all  unglazed, 
several  being  of  the  lustrous,  rubbed  variety  met  with  in  the 
two  oldest  “cities”  of  Hissarlik.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
majority  of  the  sherds  from  under  the  mosaic  were  glazed. 
Among  them  were  fragments  of  a  moulded  vessel,  repre¬ 
senting  a  tragic  mask,  and  the  handle  of  a  delicately  painted 
vase,  evidently  of  the  fourth  century  before  Christ.  Also  a 
piece  of  one  of  the  original  black  roofing  tiles  of  the  building 
itself. 

A  further  and  most  fortunate  discovery  in  this  connection 
even  renders  it  possible  to  assign  an  approximate  date  to  the 
repaving  of  the  interior.  This  was  a  bronze  coin  of  Gargara, 
struck  during  the  first  half  of  the  fourth  century  before 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


73 


Christ, — so  excellently  preserved  that  we  may  suppose  the 
mosaic  above  it  to  have  been  laid  within  one  generation,  at 
most,  after  the  date  of  its  emission.  This  coin  is  now  pre¬ 
served  in  the  Museum  of  Boston  (No.  A.  C.  64).  From  these 
indications  the  restoration  of  the  temple,  which  provided  new 
tiling  for  the  roof  as  well  as  a  new  floor  for  the  naos,  seems 
to  have  taken  place  at  the  time  of  the  greatest  political  emi¬ 
nence  of  Assos,  —  when  Aristotle  was  living  as  the  guest  of 
its  ruler,  the  wealthy  Hermeias. 

The  foundations  of  the  temple  are  destined  to  a  speedy 
destruction,  its  squared  stones  being  much  in  demand  among 
the  Greek  masons  of  the  Southern  Troad.  But  the  greatest 
care  was  taken  by  the  explorers  to  remove  as  little  as  possi¬ 
ble  of  the  structure  found  still  in  position.  The  pits  men¬ 
tioned  in  the  previous  Report  were  dug  only  under  those 
parts  of  the  bed  of  cement  where  the  mosaic  itself  had  been 
destroyed,  and  only  two  of  the  paving  slabs  of  the  pteroma 
were  lifted  for  the  purpose  of  these  examinations.  It  was  as¬ 
certained  that  the  cement  had  been  cast  upon  a  thick  layer 
of  stone  chips  and  large  pieces  of  pottery  ;  between  this  and 
the  native  rock  there  still  remained  the  fine  earth  which  must 
have  covered  the  summit  of  the  Acropolis  in  prehistoric  ages. 
From  the  pteroma,  as  well  as  from  the  interior,  several  hun¬ 
dred  sherds  were  collected  ;  yet  nothing  was  brought  to  light 
which  tended  to  contradict  the  opinion  advanced  by  the  writer 
in  regard  to  the  date  of  the  original  construction. 

Two  dowel-holes  on  a  block  of  the  pavement  immediately 
in  front  of  the  northern  door-jambs  show  a  narrow  stone  of 
square  plan  —  without  doubt  a  stele  —  to  have  occupied  this 
prominent  position.  The  holes  are  cut  with  runs  for  a  lead 
casting  ;  these  show  the  dimensions  of  the  base  to  have  been 
28  by  55  cm. 

A  detailed  description  of  the  foundations  of  the  cella  wall 


74 


ARCHsEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


has  been  given  in  the  First  Report.  The  superimposed  ma¬ 
sonry  was  two  stones  thick,  and  it  is  noticeable  that  the  bed 
for  the  outer  course  was  much  more  carefully  tooled  than 
that  for  the  inner,  the  former  surface  being  thus  sunk  a  few 
millimeters  below  the  latter.  Pry-holes  appear  only  beneath 
the  outer  stones,  those  within  not  having  been  accurately 
jointed  by  means  of  this  expedient.  Both  of  these  indica¬ 
tions  make  it  probable  that  the  inside  of  the  wall  was  cov¬ 
ered  with  stucco.  On  the  southern  side  the  foundations  of 
the  wall  are  fully  6  cm.  below  the  level  of  the  stylobate. 

From  the  width  of  the  stone  sill  of  the  naos  door,  namely, 
60  cm.,  it  was  at  first  wrongly  concluded  that  this  was  also 
the  thickness  of  the  division  between  naos  and  pronaos,  and 
of  the  enclosing  walls  of  the  sides.  It  has  since  been  ascer¬ 
tained  that  the  stone  in  question  was  cut  of  this  width  in 
order  to  provide  space  for  the  lip  of  the  revetting  sill  placed 
upon  it,  and  that  the  jambs  on  either  side  were  rebated  for 
the  same  reason.  All  the  walls  of  the  temple  were,  in  fact,  of 
a  uniform  thickness  of  66  cm.,  agreeing  in  this  respect  with 
the  antae.  At  one  or  two  points  on  the  northern  side,  the 
line  of  juncture  between  the  inner  surface  of  the  wall  and  the 
foundation  stones  could  be  seen  at  night-time  by  the  light  of 
a  lamp  so  held  as  to  send  its  rays  in  almost  the  same  plane 
with  the  tooled  beds. 

The  masonry  of  the  wall  itself  was,  as  before  said,  two 
courses  in  thickness,  the  ashlars  being  consequently  only 
about  33  cm.  in  depth.  The  length  of  the  outer  stones  of  the 
lowest  course  is  seen,  from  the  pry-holes  upon  the  foundations, 
to  have  varied  between  0.6  and  i.i  m.,  averaging  about  84  cm. 
The  walls  of  the  temple  must  have  been  demolished  at  a 
comparatively  early  period.  The  blocks  of  which  they  were 
formed,  being  of  a  convenient  size  and  squared  on  all  faces, 
provided  a  most  excellent  material  for  the  Christian  and  Mos- 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


75 


lem  builders  upon  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  town.  So  thor¬ 
oughly  had  the  Acropolis  been  cleared  of  these  stones,  that 
only  four  specimens  were  found  which  could  be  identi¬ 
fied  with  certainty.  They  belonged  to  different  courses,  the 
measurements  of  the  exposed  faces  being,  respectively,  0.82 
by  1.58,  6.81  by  1.48,  0.79  by  1.25,  and  0.76  by  0.97  m.  The 
thickness  of  each  was  within  a  few  millimeters  of  33  cm 
The  blocks  were  thus  from  three  to  five  times  as  high  as 
thick,  and  often  twice  as  high  as  broad.  Pry-holes  appeared 
in  all  the  stones,  but  there  were  no  indications  of  dowelling  or 
cramping. 

It  is  plain  that  a  wall  thus  composed  must  have  been  fre¬ 
quently  bonded  by  headers  ;  but,  notwithstanding  this,  it  can 
never  have  been  really  secure,  in  this  land  of  earthquakes. 
The  mass  of  masonry,  it  is  true,  was  not  weakened  by  aper¬ 
tures,  was  but  6.38  m.  high,  and  was  anchored  to  the  entabla¬ 
ture  upon  all  sides  by  the  stone  beams  of  the  pteroma  ceiling. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  ratio  of  its  thickness  to  its  height  — 
namely,  1  :  g§  —  is  rather  below  than  above  the  average  of 
that  obtaining  in  Doric  constructions,  which,  however  large, 
are  in  this  respect  seldom  less  than  1  :  10,  and  often  as  much 
as  1  :  9.  Moreover,  in  regard  to  the  length  of  the  wall  be¬ 
tween  transverse  supports,  the  height  being  taken  as  the  unit, 
we  have  at  Assos  a  ratio  of  more  than  2§;  whereas  in  the 
Doric  temples  of  Greece,  Sicily,  and  Magna  Grecia  we  find 
the  corresponding  figures  to  be  not  larger  than  from  2  to 
2\,  and  the  strength  of  the  structure  consequently  much 
greater.  Calculated  according  to  the  formulas  in  practical 
use  to-day,  we  find  the  stability  of  a  wall  such  as  that  of 
the  temple  of  Assos  scarcely  equal  to  the  requirements  of 
the  case. 

A  renewed  scrutiny  of  the  marks  of  the  columns  upon  the 
weathered  upper  surface  of  the  stylobate  furnished  some  ad- 


76 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


ditional  indications  in  regard  to  the  position  of  the  shafts. 
The  last  block  of  the  upper  step  upon  the  southern  side,  next 
to  the  southeastern  corner,  is  now  displaced,  but  it  still  shows 
traces  of  the  drums  which  so  long  stood  upon  it.  The  outer 
intercolumniation,  thus  ascertained,  was  found  to  be  wider 
than  the  average  of  the  others  upon  the  sides,  its  clear  open¬ 
ing  being  1.568  m.  There  was  undoubtedly  considerable  ir¬ 
regularity  in  the  spacing  of  the  columns,  the  width  of  the 
third  opening  from  the  southeastern  corner  not  having  ex¬ 
ceeded  1.5  m.  Otherwise  those  intercolumniations  which 
could  be  measured  with  accuracy  did  not  deviate  appreciably 
from  the  normal  width  of  1.532  m.,  or  2.447  m.  from  centre  to 
centre,  determined  by  calculation. 

The  drums  unearthed  in  the  vicinity  of  the  temple,  during 
the  digging  of  the  second  and  third  years,  were  of  the  same 
general  proportions  as  those  which  had  been  found  before  the 
preparation  of  the  First  Report.  They  lend  additional  weight 
to  the  conclusions  in  regard  to  the  height  of  the  shaft,  and  its 
entire  lack  of  entasis,  which  have  been  set  forth  in  that  pub¬ 
lication.  It  is  needless  to  adduce  in  detail  the  several  hun¬ 
dred  measurements  upon  which  these  conclusions  are  based, 
as  these  would  merely  give  a  list  of  the  accidental  and  unes¬ 
sential  lengths  of  the  separate  drums,  and  of  the  upper  and 
lower  diameters  dependent  thereupon.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that 
the  diminution  was  found  to  average  as  nearly  as  possible 
67  mm.  in  the  meter,  or  1  :  15,  —  this  factor  being  precisely 
the  same  in  the  upper  as  in  the  lower  drums. 

The  total  height  of  the  column,  calculated  from  these 
data,  is  found  to  have  been  within  a  few  centimeters  of 
4.78  m.  The  maximum  of  this  dimension  cannot  have  been 
more  than  one  third  of  the  width  of  the  lower  step,  while 
the  minimum  cannot  have  been  less  than  one  third  of  the 
width  of  the  stylobate.  We  thus  recognize  in  the  temple 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


77 


of  Assos  that  ratio  which  Pliny,1  following  Greek  traditions, 
asserts  to  have  been  observed  in  ancient  times  between  the 
height  of  the  Doric  column  and  the  width  of  the  temple  plan. 
So  far  as  the  present  writer  is  aware,  attention  has  not  hith¬ 
erto  been  called  to  any  instance  in  which  the  adoption  of  this 
archaic  canon  is  demonstrable. 

The  lower  diameter  of  the  column,  with  an  average  of 
91.5  cm.,  varied  from  90.8  to  92  cm.  ;  the  upper,  averaging 
62.8  cm.,  from  60  to  63.8  cm. 

In  so  far  as  regards  its  significance  in  the  history  of  archi¬ 
tectural  development,  the  exceptional  relation  of  the  chan¬ 
nelling  to  the  axes  of  the  plan  and  of  the  abacus  will  be 
considered,  in  a  subsequent  chapter,  in  connection  with  the 
proto-Doric  shaft  found  in  the  Necropolis  of  Assos. 

While  the  beds  of  the  drums  were  invariably  tooled  to 
an  anathyrosis,  the  lower  surfaces  of  the  capitals  were,  with 
a  single  exception  to  be  mentioned  hereafter,  perfectly  plane. 
This  was,  without  doubt,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  joint  was 
in  this  case  not  ground  down  to  an  almost  imperceptible 
line  ;  but  was,  on  the  contrary,  emphasized  by  the  charac¬ 
teristic  Doric  incision  which  marked  the  commencement  of 
the  slightly  concave  necking.  This  single  incision,  which 
increased  the  opening  of  the  joint  to  an  even  width  of  six  or 
eight  millimeters,  was  formed  by  bevelling  the  edge  of  the  bed 
surface  of  the  capital  ;  the  slant  following  the  outline  of  the 
channels,  and  having  a  width  in  plan  of  from  4  to  7  cm. 

As  regards  methods  of  workmanship,  no  detail  of  the  tem¬ 
ple  is  of  greater  interest  than  the  capital.  The  question  as  to 
whether  this  most  characteristic  member  of  the  Doric  edifice 
was  turned  upon  a  lathe,  as  has  been  assumed  by  Botticher,2 

1  Pliny,  N.  H.t  XXXVI.  23  (56). 

2  “  Das  machtige  Echinuskyma  des  Capitelles,  ist  wohl  durch  Axendrehung 


78 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


or  was  cut  entirely  by  hand,  is  one  of  much  importance,  in 
regard  to  which  the  evidence,  material  and  literary,  seems  not 
to  be  fully  conclusive.  On  the  one  hand,  the  mark  of  some 
centring  is  visible  upon  the  bed  surface  of  every  one  of  the 
capitals;  and  the  most  accurate  measurements  of  the  echinos, 
made  with  a  cymograph  and  with  strips  of  lead  bent  to  the 
shape,  proved  the  curve  in  every  case  to  be  absolutely  identical 
upon  all  sides  of  the  capital;  a  result  which  it  would  have  been 
exceedingly  difficult  to  obtain  by  hand-chiselling.  Moreover,  a 
passage  of  Pliny,  which  seems  to  have  escaped  the  attention  of 
writers  upon  the  constructive  methods  of  the  ancients,  shows 
the  Greeks  of  the  sixth  century  before  Christ  to  have  possessed 
lathes  which  were  capable  of  turning,  not  only  capitals  as  heavy 
as  those  of  Assos,  but  even  entire  columns.  The  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  fifty  shafts  of  the  labyrinth  upon  the  neighboring 
island  of  Lemnos  were  turned  by  a  machine  of  such  perfect 
construction,  that,  as  the  author  tells  us,  almost  in  the  words 
of  a  modern  advertisement,  “  a  child  could  work  it.”  1 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  not  a  trace  upon  any  one  of 
the  echinoi  of  such  concentric  markings  as  would  have  re¬ 
sulted  from  a  turning  of  the  stone  upon  a  lathe.  The  groove 
between  the  greatest  projection  of  the  echinos  and  the  under 
surface  of  the  abacus  even  shows  lines  cut  by  the  chisel  in  a 
contrary  direction  ;  so  that,  if  the  capital  was  turned,  at  least 
this  quirk  of  the  profile  was  subsequently  cut  by  free-hand. 
In  view  of  the  difficulty  which  must  have  been  experienced  in 
turning  so  sharply  marked  a  groove  against  the  square  of  the 

auf  dem  Bauplatz  gearbeitet.”  Botticher  (Karl),  Die  Tektonik  der  Hellenen, , 
2d  edition,  Berlin,  1874,  etc.,  vol.  i. 

Pliny,  N.  H.,  XXXVI.  19.  3.  The  words  of  the  author  are  :  “  Lemnius, 
(labyrinthus).  .  .  .  columnis  tantum  centum  quinquaginta  mirabilior  fuit: 
quarum  in  officina  turbines  ita  librati  pependerunt,  ut  puero  circumagente 
tornarentur.  ’  This  was  probably  effected  by  means  of  a  vertical  mandrel. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


79 


abacus,  this  would  not,  indeed,  seem  to  be  an  unnatural  way 
of  executing  the  work.  And  the  same  considerations  would 
account  for  the  chisel  marks  which,  on  some  of  the  capitals, 
are  to  be  seen  upon  the  portion  of  the  echinos  immediately 
adjoining  the  upper  annulet.  As  for  the  mark  of  a  centring 
upon  the  bed  surface,  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  deter¬ 
mination  of  this  point  was  quite  as  necessary  in  the  free-hand 
cutting  of  the  necking  as  in  the  fitting  of  the  entire  block 
upon  a  lathe.  The  sinking  itself  cannot  be  supposed  to  have 
served  for  the  reception  of  so  gigantic  a  back-centre  as  would 
have  been  necessary  to  support  these  ponderous  masses.  In 
fact,  stones  of  this  size  cannot  well  be  turned  without  the  em¬ 
ployment  of  chucks  upon  both  ends.  Thus  it  must  reluctantly 
be  admitted  that  the  capitals  of  the  temple  of  Assos  do  not 
furnish  a  proof  for  either  view.  While  the  marks  upon  the 
stones  still  admit  of  the  assumption  that  the  echinos  was 
turned  from  the  rough,  and  the  quirk  adjoining  the  abacus, 
with  the  zone  contiguous  to  the  annulets,  retouched  by  hand, 
they  present  no  decisive  indication  of  the  use  of  the  lathe. 

Owing  to  irregularities  in  the  upper  diameter  of  the  shafts, 
and  in  the  width  of  the  abaci,  the  echinoi  projected  at  very 
different  angles.  Indeed,  scarcely  two  examples  were  alike 
in  this  respect,  and  the  capitals  consequently  differed  greatly 
in  general  appearance.  Yet  it  was  found,  on  graphical  com¬ 
parison,  that,  with  a  single  exception  presently  to  be  men¬ 
tioned,  the  curves  of  the  echinoi  were  absolutely  identical. 
This  may  be  seen  from  Figure  io.  By  drawing  the  outline 
of  the  first  echinos  upon  a  slip  of  tracing-paper,  and  laying 
it  over  the  second,  the  lines  will  be  found  to  coincide  exactly. 
The  third  echinos,  belonging  to  a  capital  of  unusual  projection, 
was  lengthened  at  its  base  by  a  straight  line,  22  mm.  long ; 
but  between  the  points  indicated  by  asterisks  the  curve  will 
be  found  to  agree  entirely  with  the  first  two.  Among  all  the 


8o 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


capitals  of  the  temple  of  Assos,  the  only  one  whose  echinos 
did  not  conform  to  this  curve  is  that  shown  as  the  fourth 
in  Figure  10.  As  may  readily  be  seen,  it  differs  from  all 
the  others,  not  only  in  the  outline  of  the  echinos,  but  in  the 
formation  of  the  annulets,  and  the  extreme  shortness  of  the 
necking. 

An  explanation  of  these  deviations  from  the  general  rule 
will  readily  suggest  itself  to  those  familiar  with  the  methods 
of  modern  architects  and  their  workmen.  Each  of  the  stone¬ 
cutters  intrusted  with  the  making  of  the  capitals  must  have 
been  furnished  by  the  designer  with  a  templet,  in  all  proba¬ 
bility  of  sheet-metal,  by  which  the  curves  were  tested.  The 
abaci  must  have  been  previously  hewn  upon  the  blocks  of 
stone  by  the  quarrymen,  who  delivered  them  to  the  masons 
in  the  shape  of  slabs,  somewhat  more  than  43  cm.  in  thick¬ 
ness,  the  plan  of  which  averaged  1.193  m.  in  length  and  in 
breadth.  These  latter  dimensions,  however,  like  those  of  all 
the  details  of  the  temple,  which  may  be  supposed  to  have 
been  tooled  by  masons  in  the  quarry,  varied  considerably  in 
different  cases;  the  minimum  observed  being  1.18  m.,  the 
maximum  1.238  m.  Thus  the  templet,  when  applied  to  the 
stone,  had  to  be  inclined  from  the  axis,  not  only  so  as  to 
adapt  itself  to  the  given  width  of  the  abacus,  but  so  as  to 
make  the  base  of  the  necking,  bevelled  for  the  incision,  of 
exactly  the  same  diameter  as  that  of  the  uppermost  drum 
of  the  shaft  for  which  the  capital  was  intended.  These 
drums,  as  has  been  stated,  were  themselves  subject  to  a 
variation  amounting  to  not  less  than  38  mm.  The  angle 
which  the  spring  of  the  echipos  formed  with  the  horizontal 
plane  was  hence  in  the  first  capital  shown  in  Fig.  10  as  large 
as  22°,  in  the  second  as  small  as  150.  Beyond  twenty-five 
degrees  the  mason  did  not  venture  to  go,  and  when  the  middle 
of  the  abacus  projected  more  than  28  cm.  beyond  the  upper 


Fig.  io.  Outlines  of  Echinos  Curves,  Anta  Capital,  and  Hawk’s-bill 

Moulding  of  Corona. 


82 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


diameter  of  the  shaft,  as  in  the  case  of  the  third  capital  (Fig. 
io),  he  was  obliged  to  cut  an  echinos  with  an  outline  con¬ 
siderably  longer  than  that  indicated  by  the  templet  with  which 
he  was  provided.  A  share  of  this  equalization  was  borne  also 
by  the  projection  of  the  necking  curve,  and  by  the  width  of 
the  annulets;  the  former  varying  from  io  to  25  mm.,  the 
latter  from  50  to  55  mm.  In  the  case  of  the  exceptional  capi¬ 
tal  (shown  as  the  fourth  in  Fig.  10),  it  is  evident  that  the 
stone-cutter  was  without  such  a  templet  as  that  according  to 
which  every  other  echinos  throughout  the  building  was  shaped. 
The  curve  was  here  determined  only  by  the  workman’s  eye. 
That  this  was  not  particularly  accurate  can  be  seen  from  a 
comparison  between  the  actual  form,  shown  by  the  continuous 
line,  and  the  normal  curve,  indicated  by  dots.  The  annulets, 
too,  are  of  a  different  design ;  and  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  in 
this  capital  alone  is  the  bed  surface  tooled,  uselessly,  to  an 
anathyrosis. 

It  further  resulted  from  this  method  of  adjustment,  that, 
while  the  height  of  the  necking  is  one  of  the  most  constant 
dimensions  of  the  structure,  the  height  of  the  abacus  varies 
exceedingly  ;  namely,  from  185  to  216  mm.  In  one  instance, 
where  the  abacus  was  felt  to  be  altogether  too  high,  and  yet 
could  not  be  cut  down  on  account  of  the  impossibility  of 
shortening  the  altitude  of  the  column,  the  vertical  faces  were 
diminished  by  so  tooling  the  upper  surface  that  the  epistyle 
beams  rested  only  upon  a  scamillus,  about  80  cm.  square,  left 
in  the  middle  of  the  field,  by  which  they  were  raised  fully 
25  mm.  above  the  upper  outer  edge  of  the  abacus.  A  broad 
crevice  between  the  sides  of  the  capital  and  the  superincum¬ 
bent  lintels  was  thought  to  be  less  offensive,  when  seen  from 
below,  than  too  great  a  height  of  the  abacus,  which  could 
readily  be  perceived  on  account  of  its  projection. 

The  upper  surfaces  of  all  the  abaci  were  bevelled  upon 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


83 


those  sides  which  were  placed  at  right  angles  to  the  entabla¬ 
ture,  in  order  to  obviate  a  chipping  of  the  edges  by  the  heavy 
beams  laid  upon  them.  This  slant  had  a  width  of  6  or  8  cm., 
and  a  fall  of  8  or  10  mm.  Compare  the  drawing  of  the  top  of 
an  abacus,  Figure  11. 


0  z'  In. 

Fig.  11.  Upper  Surface  of  an  Abacus. 

On  the  annulets  of  the  three  best-preserved  capitals  dis¬ 
tinct  traces  of  a  deep  vermilion  pigment  were  to  be  seen. 
This  tint  did  not  extend  beyond  the  vertical  faces  of  the  an¬ 
nulets,  neither  to  the  necking  nor  to  the  echinos.  It  may  be 
taken  as  an  indication  that  at  least  all  the  smaller  mouldings 
of  the  building  were  colored.  It  proves  also,  and  this  is  a 
point  of  much  importance,  that  the  surface  of  the  andesite 
was  not  thickly  primed  with  stucco,  but  that  the  body  pig¬ 
ments  were  applied  directly  upon  the  tooled  surfaces  of  the 
stone.  The  temple  of  Assos,  though  built  of  so  hard  and 


84 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


gritty  a  material,  is  in  this  respect  to  be  compared  with  the 
Attic  monuments  of  the  perfected  style,  rather  than  with  the 
archaic  structures  of  the  Peloponnesos  and  of  Sicily.  The 
andesite  was  treated  like  the  marble  of  Pentelikos,  rather 
than  like  the  poros,  which  its  grain  more  resembles.  The 
accurate  jointing,  effected  throughout  by  means  of  the  ana- 
thyrosis,  pointed  indeed  to  the  same  conclusion ;  but  the 
lack  of  trunnels,  and  of  delicate  details  in  the  sculptures  of 
the  epistyle,  might  otherwise  have  permitted  the  assumption 
that  the  minor  members  were  supplied,  and  the  plane  surfaces 
coated  and  smoothed  with  the  aid  of  some  plastic  composition. 
The  blocks  of  the  entablature  are  so  weathered  that  it  is  not 
possible  to  affirm  the  employment  of  pigments  upon  them. 
Still,  the  traces  upon  the  capitals  suffice  to  furnish  proof  that 
in  the  temple  of  Assos,  as  in  all  other  Doric  monuments,  the 
architectural  forms  were  modified  and  perfected  by  a  poly¬ 
chromatic  treatment.1 

That  decorative  objects  of  some  light  material  were  affixed 
to  the  columns  is  evident  from  the  rust  marks  of  iron  pins, 
once  inserted  in  the  groove  between  echinos  and  abacus,  and 
in  the  joint  between  the  upper  surface  of  the  capital  and  the 
epistyle  beams.  It  is  not  possible  to  determine  whether  these 
objects  were  of  metal,  and  fixtures,  —  like  the  shields  which 
once  were  fastened  upon  the  entablatures  of  the  Parthenon 
and  the  temples  of  Apollo  at  Delphi  and  Zeus  at  Olympia, — 
or  were  merely  garlands  of  leaves  and  flowers  with  which  the 
building  was  adorned  on  festival  days. 

Among  the  most  interesting  discoveries  of  the  second 
year  relative  to  the  temple  is  a  corner  of  one  of  the  antae 
capitals  (Fig.  io  a).  This  differs  from  all  other  members  of 
the  kind,  hitherto  known,  in  having  the  curve  of  an  Ionic,  not 

1  The  most  careful  examination  of  the  capitals  of  the  temple  of  Assos  failed 
to  show  traces  of  any  painted  pattern  upon  the  echinos. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


85 


a  Doric  kyma.  The  fact  that  it  was  not  undercut  to  a  beak¬ 
moulding  can  scarcely  be  attributed  to  the  difficulty  of  tooling 
the  stone  to  this  more  delicate  profile,  inasmuch  as  the  Doric 
kyma  appears  in  full  perfection  upon  the  upper  edge  of  the 
corona.  It  is  plain  that  we  have  here  to  deal,  either  with  a 
provincial  confusion  of  the  normal  details  of  the  two  great 
styles,  or  with  a  deliberate  retention  of  archaic  forms.1  In 
either  case  we  may  suppose  the  characteristic  leaves  of  the 
Doric  anta  capital  to  have  been  painted  upon  the  member. 
Viewed  at  a  height  of  some  five  meters  above  the  eye,  in  the 
dim  and  diffused  light  of  the  pronaos,  this  capital  must  have 
been  of  good  effect :  its  well-rounded  curves  and  the  in¬ 
clined  and  projecting  face  of  the  abacus2  bear  witness  to 
the  intelligent  care  of,  the  designer.  The  small  fragment 
shows  no  traces  of  dowelling,  or  of  other  metallic  attach¬ 
ment. 

The  epistyle  beams  were  somewhat  less  finely  tooled  upon 
their  bed  surfaces  than  upon  their  exposed  soffits.  From  this 
difference  in  workmanship  it  is  possible  to  determine,  with  a 
certain  degree  of  accuracy,  the  position  of  the  end  joints,  as 
relative  to  the  axes  of  the  column.  It  is  thus  found  that  the 
lintels  were  by  no  means  so  planned  as  to  extend  exactly 
from  centre  to  centre  of  the  supports,  —  the  deviation  in  this 
respect  amounting  in  some  cases  to  not  less  than  15  cm.,  or 
one  quarter  of  the  upper  diameter  of  the  shaft.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  evident  that  the  triglyphs  directly  above  the  col- 

1  That  the  form  of  the  anta  capital  was  among  the  last  details  of  the  Doric 
style  to  be  definitely  established  by  architectural  custom,  is  indicated  by  the  sin¬ 
gularly  clumsy  and  archaic  moulding  with  which  it  is  ornamented  in  the  other¬ 
wise  fully  developed  Great  Temple  of  Paestum. 

2  This  treatment  of  the  face  of  the  abacus  of  the  antm  as  a  slightly  inclined 
and  projecting  surface  is  a  refinement  scarcely  to  have  been  expected  in  an 
archam  monument.  Although  adopted  in  the  Parthenon  and  Propylaia,  and  ex¬ 
aggerated  in  the  archaistic  temple  of  Bassai,  it  does  not  appear  in  the  Theseion 
or  in  the  temple  of  Aigina. 


86 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


umns  did  not  vary  from  the  normal  axes  in  the  same  manner 
as  did  those  above  the  intercolumniations,  —  a  fact  which  will 
be  referred  to  in  the  description  of  the  frieze.  The  height  of 
the  epistyle  is,  naturally  enough,  almost  constant ;  irregular¬ 
ity  in  this  respect  would  have  entailed  serious  constructive 
difficulties.  But  in  all  other  dimensions,  and  in  the  form  of 
every  detail,  the  variations  observable  in  the  epistyle,  and 
indeed  throughout  the  entablature,  are  so  great  that  it  is 
impossible  to  believe  that  scaled  drawings  were  prepared  by 
the  architect.  Nor  can  the  masons  have  worked  according  to 
an  accurately  determined  system  of  measurement.  The  final 
shape  must  evidently  have  been  given  to  the  blocks  after 
they  had  been  placed  in  position.  The  width  of  the  tainia, 
for  instance,  while  averaging  95  mm.,  varies  from  85  to 
100  mm.  So  great  an  irregularity  in  this  simple  fillet  is  only 
explicable  by  the  assumption  that  the  total  height  of  the 
stones  was  altered  after  the  projecting  members  had  been 
carved  upon  them ;  that  is  to  say,  their  tops  were  cut  down 
to  a  uniform  level. 

The  epistyle  beams,  after  having  been  placed  upon  the 
columns  and  released  from  the  tackling  of  the  derrick,  were 
shifted  to  an  exact  position  and  to  a  close  juncture  with  the 
adjoining  stone  by  means  of  a  lever  purchasing  in  pry-holes 
cut  upon  the  top  of  the  abacus.  To  facilitate  this  process 
the  beam  was  slightly  uplifted,  or  rather  tilted,  by  a  crowbar, 
the  sharp  point  of  which  was  inserted  between  the  epistyle 
and  the  abacus,  in  slots,  or  shift-holes ,  cut  for  the  purpose 
upon  the  bed  surface  of  the  former.  These  shallow  sinkings, 
of  rectangular  profile,  generally  3J  by  \\  cm.  in  plan,  and  from 
1  to  1  \  cm.  deep,  are  disposed  at  a  distance  of  from  24  to 
50  cm.  from  the  ends  of  the  epistyle  beams.  They  may  be 
observed,  either  in  Pans  or  Boston,  upon  the  sculptured 
epistyle  blocks  removed  from  Assos.  The  same  method  of 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


87 

shifting  will  be  noticed  in  connection  with  the  stone  beams  of 
the  coffered  ceiling. 

Those  blocks  of  the  epistyle  which  were  ornamented  with 
reliefs  are  bordered  along  the  lower  edge  of.  their  face  by  a 
narrow  fillet  corresponding  to  the  tainia  upon  the  upper  edge, 
and  of  about  the  same  dimensions.  This  fillet  forms  an 
architectural  framework  for  the  sculptured  composition,  and, 
inasmuch  as  reliefs  do  not  elsewhere  appear  upon  the  epistyle 
of  Greek  buildings,  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  other  Doric 
monument.  The  unsculptured  lintels  of  the  temple  of  Assos 
were  cut,  conformably  to  the  principles  of  the  style,  without 
such  a  lower  fillet.  It  is  evident  that,  in  its  ideal  form,  the 
epistyle,  like  the  wall  of  which  it  is  the  representative,  should 
have  no  architectural  divisions,  —  no  memberment  upon  the 
face  beneath  the  tainia,  or  wall-plate. 

The  regulas  did  not  have  the  trapeze  shape  assigned  to 
them  by  Texier.1  Their  ends  were  straight  and  vertical. 

As  has  been  stated  in  the  First  Report,2  the  outer  blocks 
of  the  epistyle  were  provided,  along  the  upper  half  of'  their 
inner  side,  with  a  rough  boss,  occupying  nearly  one  half  of 
the  total  height  of  the  beam,  and  projecting  from  5  to  20  cm. 
This  peculiar  formation  at  first  led  to  the  supposition  that 
the  epistyle  beams  were  three  in  number,  as  in  the  Par¬ 
thenon,  a  view  which  was  set  forth  in  the  preliminary  de¬ 
scription  of  the  building.  The  investigations  of  the  second 
year  have,  however,  given  proof  of  the  contrary.  In  the 
entablature  of  the  temple  of  Assos  a  constructive  system  is 
now  recognizable  which  is  without  a  parallel  in  similar  fab- 

1  Texier  (Charles  Felix  Marie),  Description  de  I'Asie  Mineitre,  fait  far  Ordre 
du  Gouvernement  Francis  de  1833  it  1837,  et  publics  par  le  Minister e  de  1' Instruc¬ 
tion  Publique ,  deuxieme  partie,  deuxieme  volume.  Paris,  1849.  The  incorrect 
statement  concerning  the  shape  of  the  regula  has  been  repeated  in  many  text¬ 
books  on  Greek  architecture. 

2  Preliminary  Report,  p.  90. 


88 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE . 


rics.  The  epistyle  was  but  two  stones  in  thickness,  the  inner 
beam  occupying  nearly  two  thirds  of  the  width  of  the  soffit, 
yet  being  less  than  one  half  as  high  as  the  outer  lintel.  The 
block  resting  upon  it — that  is  to  say,  the  second  member  of 
the  inner  side  of  the  entablature  —  was  at  least  20  cm.  less  in 


0  1  m 

TK 

Fig.  12.  Section  of  the  Entablature  and  Coffered  Ceiling  of 

the  Pteroma. 

thickness,  and  hence  it  was  not  necessary  to  tool  away  from 
the  upper  half  of  the  back  of  the  outer  epistyle  beam,  and 
from  the  lower  half  of  the  back  of  the  triglyph  blocks,  those 
rough  and  projecting  faces  which  still  show  the  marks  of  the 
quarrying.  Indeed,  these  bosses,  keyed  in,  as  it  were,  to  the 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


89 


second  course  of  the  inner  entablature,  are  in  the  transverse 
section  seen  to  have  practically  formed  a  broken  joint,  and 
must  have  considerably  increased  the  resistance  which  the 
mass  of  masonry  above  the  columns  could  offer  to  the  thrust 
constantly  exercised  against  it  by  the  roofing  timbers,  and  to 
the  dislocating  effects  of  earthquakes.  This  will  be  clear 
from  the  section  of  the  entablature,  Figure  12. 

It  was  remarked  in  the  First  Report,  that  it  would  be  diffi¬ 
cult  to  advance  any  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  triple  con¬ 
struction  then  assumed.  The  saving  effected  in  the  weight 
of  the  facing  blocks  would  have  been  more  than  counterbal¬ 
anced  by  the  additional  labor  required  to  cut  stones,  naturally 
cleaving  to  parallel  and  rectangular  planes,  into  the  irregular 
shape  thus  determined  ;  and  the  difficulty  of  assuring  exact 
joints  upon  the  soffit  would  have  been  increased  through  such 
a  duplication  of  the  surfaces  of  contact. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  more  correct  information  relative 
to  the  composition  of  the  entablature  gained  during  the  sub¬ 
sequent  investigation  is  entirely  in  agreement  with  the  gen¬ 
eral  character  of  the  design,  and  again  permits  us  to  recognize 
the  wise  economy  with  which  the  construction  was  planned. 
The  inner  lintel,  and  the  two  courses  above  it,  were  formed 
of  the  parallelopipedons,  most  readily  obtained  in  the  quar¬ 
ries  of  Assos,  while  the  rough  projections  upon  the  back  of 
the  single  outer  epistyle  naturally  resulted  from  the  cutting 
necessary  upon  the  lower  edge  alone  in  order  to  bring  it  to 
a  straight  and  close  joint  upon  the  soffit.  Although  the 
sculptured  epistyle  block  was  greatly  decreased  in  weight, 
and  could  consequently  be  more  readily  provided  and  more 
easily  worked,  there  were  still  the  fewest  possible  surfaces  of 
contact,  and  a  triple  memberment  of  the  entablature  was 
thus  secured  upon  the  inner  side,  without  the  necessity  of 
introducing  for  this  purpose  a  low  and  narrow  string-course 


go 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


behind  the  corona,  and  upon  the  same  level  with  it;  an  expe¬ 
dient  which  would  have  presented  far  greater  difficulties  in 
the  coarse  andesite  of  Assos  than  in  the  fine-grained  and  firm 
limestones  elsewhere  employed  by  Greek  builders. 

The  true  arrangement  of  the  epistyle  beams  is  evident  from 
the  position  of  the  pry-holes  on  the  top  of  the  capital.  Deep 
pry-holes  of  oblique  section,  a  a  and  y  y',  Fig.  n,  were  cut 
upon  the  outer  and  inner  projections  of  the  abacus.  They 
provided  a  purchase  for  the  heavy  lever  by  which  the  stones, 
while  hanging  from  the  derrick  tackle,  were  guided  to  their 
positions  upon  the  bed.  From  the  depth  and  the  broad  out¬ 
ward  slant  of  these  sinkings  it  may  be  assumed  that  they  also 
served  to  receive  the  ends  of  the  upper  timbers  of  a  sta°in°- 
subsequently  erected  to  facilitate  work  upon  the  higher  parts 
of  the  entablature.  The  epistyle  beam,  a,  of  the  outer  side, 
was  first  swung  into  position.  This  stone  set,  and  released 
from  the  tackling  of  the  derrick,  it  was  shifted  into  close  con¬ 
tact  with  the  epistyle  above  the  next  column,  already  in  place, 
by  the  help  of  a  crowbar,  purchasing  in  the  transverse  pry- 
hole  /3.  The  corresponding  inner  lintel,  b,  was  similarly  set, 
being  pried  against  the  outer  epistyle  by  means  of  a  lever 
bearing  in  the  slot  y,  and  against  the  adjoining  inner  lintel  by 
placing  the  lever  in  the  pry-hole  8.  In  some  cases  it  was 
necessary  to  shift  forward  the  outer  epistyle  from  the  position 
in  which  it  was  first  laid  upon  the  abacus,  so  as  to  bring  it 
into  the  exact  alignment  determined  for  the  face  of  the  entab¬ 
lature.  This  was  effected,  as  in  the  case  of  the  beam  c,  Fi°\ 
ii,  by  a  leverage  exercised  from  a  longitudinal  pry-hole,  e.  It 
was  rare,  however,  that  recourse  was  had  to  this  expedient,  it 
having  almost  always  been  possible  to  guide  the  blocks  while 
hanging  from  the  derrick  with  sufficient  precision  by  means 
of  the  outer  slots,  a  and  a.  The  beam  a,  for  instance,  is  seen 
to  have  required  no  such  lateral  correction,  no  pry-hole  ap- 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1S83. 


91 


pearing  at  co.  The  last  stone  to  be  laid  upon  the  capital  was 
the  second  inner  epistyle,  d.  This  was  shifted  into  an  exact 
position,  laterally  by  a  leverage  applied  at  7',  and  longitudi¬ 
nally  by  a  purchase  provided  upon  the  next  capital  in  that 
direction  in  which  the  construction  was  carried  on.  The  last 
of  all  the  epistyle  beams  to  be  laid  must  have  been  at  one  of 
the  corners  of  the  building.  Accurate  jointing  was  assured 
by  cutting  an  anathyrosis  upon  all  the  surfaces  of  contact. 

The  indications  thus  obtained  from  the  pry-holes  upon  the 
top  of  the  abacus  were  sufficient,  not  only  to  prove  that  the 
lintels  were  two  in  number,  but  also  to  determine  the  width 
of  the  blocks  which  formed  the  inner  epistyle.  The  height 
of  these  was  evident,  within  certain  limits,  from  that  of  the 
tooled  surface  beneath  the  projecting  boss  of  the  outer  epi¬ 
style.  The  acquisition  of  these  facts  permitted,  during  the 
work  of  excavation  on  the  Acropolis  subsequent  to  the  first 
year,  and  during  the  remeasurement  of  all  the  squared  stones 
whose  original  destination  had  not  already  become  evident,  the 
recognition  of  one  entire  inner  epistyle  beam,  and  of  six  others 
more  or  less  fragmentary.  In  height  these  members,  with  an 
irregularity  of  but  a  few  millimeters,  averaged  385  mm.  Their 
width,  complementary  to  that  of  the  outer  epistyle  blocks,  va¬ 
ried  from  495  to  550  mm.  The  length  of  the  one  entire  stone, 
evidently  belonging  to  the  side  entablature,  was  2.39  m. 
This  block  now  serves  as  one  of  the  jambs  of  the  gateway 
to  the  Turkish  fortifications  which  once  occupied  the  sum¬ 
mit  of  the  Acropolis  ;  it  still  stands  upright.  That  so  few 
fiagments  should  remain  of  the  thirty-four  inner  epistyle 
beams  which  formed  a  total  length  of  eighty-four  meters 
(or  eighty-eight  meters,  if  the  inner  epistyle  was  cut  to  a 
mitre  at  the  corners,  as  in  the  temples  of  Aigina  and  Olym¬ 
pia)  is  readily  explicable  by  the  consideration  that  these 
stones,  having  been  without  projecting  members,  and  accu- 


92 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


rately  squared  upon  all  sides,  were  eminently  suited  to  the 
purposes  of  later  builders,  Christian  and  Mohammedan,  who 
looked  upon  the  ancient  monuments  as  a  convenient  quarry. 

The  blocks  of  the  inner  epistyle,  like  those  of  the 'outer, 
were  somewhat  less  finely  tooled  upon  their  bed  surfaces 
than  upon  their  exposed  soffits,  and  were  likewise  provided 
with  shallow  rectangular  notches,  destined  to  receive  the  point 


0  1  tn. 

Fig.  13.  Fragments  of  inner  Epistyle  Beams,  showing  Shift-holes 

and  Masons’  Marks. 

of  the  crowbar  by  which  they  were  raised  while  being  shifted 
into  position.  As  it  was  necessary  that  the  widths  of  the 
outer  and  inner  lintels  should  together  make  up  the  total 
thickness  of  the  epistyle,  namely,  82  cm.,  they  must  have 
been  fitted  together  upon  the  ground.  Those  which  had 
been  matched  were  occasionally  designated  by  masons’  marks. 
Three  of  these  signs,  the  only  ones  found,  are  shown  in 
Figure  13.  They  will  be  referred  to  in  the  discussion  of 
the  age  of  the  building. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


93 


The  members  of  the  frieze  show  irregularities  in  point  of 
size,  which  far  exceed  those  observed  in  other  parts  of  the 
structure.  The  triglyphs  and  metopes  found  during  the 
course  of  the  investigations,  as  well  as  the  spacing  of  the  regu- 

las  upon  the  blocks  of  the  epistyle,  prove  the  dimensions _ 

even  of  those  details  which  were  in  immediate  proximity,  and 
could  easily  be  compared  by  the  observer —  to  have  varied, 
in  some  instances,  in  the  enormous  proportion  of  seven  to 
ten.  The  width  of  the  smallest  triglyph  found  was  480, 
that  of  the  largest  575  mm.  The  former  dimension  was  ex¬ 
ceptional,  the  nearest  to  it  being  51cm.;  the  latter  was  not 
uncommon,  four  of  the  thirty-eight  triglyphs  recognizable 
measuring  over  57  cm.  In  general,  the  triglyphs  may  be 
divided  into  two  classes,;  those  of  the  fronts,  averaging  56, 
and  those  of  the  sides,  averaging  52  cm.  The  corner  tri¬ 
glyphs,  three  of  which  were  found,  were  of  the  smaller  size, _ 

a  fact  which  is  of  importance  in  determining  the  relative 
position  of  the  sculptured  epistyle  blocks. 

In  the  metopes  considerable  variations  were  naturally  to  be 
expected,  inasmuch  as  the  equalization  of  the  corners  of  the 
frieze,  and  of  the  front  and  side  intercolumniations,  devolved 
mainly  upon  them.  Still,  this  fact  by  no  means  suffices 
to  explain  the  great  differences  in  the  size  of  these  members 
The  narrowest  metope  found  was  63  cm.;  the  broadest, 
nearly  half  as  large  again,  namely,  905  mm.  The  nearest 
approach  to  the  minimum  was  680,  to  the  maximum  835  mm. 

It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  these  blocks  were  of  exactly 
the  same  height,  and  that  a  variation  of,  let  us  say,  5  cm. 
could  readily  be  detected  by  the  eye.  Particularly  worthy  of 
remark  is  the  fact  that  adjacent  metopes,  which  can  be  meas¬ 
ured  from  one  and  the  same  epistyle  block,  differed  in 
width  as  much  as  13  cm.,  namely,  from  68  to  81  cm.  This 
is  proved  by  the  spacing  of  the  regulas  on  the  epistyle  sculp- 


94 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


tured  with  horse-legged  centaurs,  discovered  during  the 
course  of  the  excavations.  Nor  was  this  an  altogether  ex¬ 
ceptional  case.  On  the  large  relief  of  two  bulls,  in  the  Louvre, 
the  adjacent  metopes  are  seen  to  have  varied  5  cm.  in  width, 
namely,  from  63  to  68  cm. 

Under  these  conditions  it  appears  probable  that  the  exact 
position  of  the  regulas  was  determined  after  the  members  of 
the  frieze  had  been  set  in  place  above  the  epistyle.  This  was 
without  doubt  effected  by  leaving  the  ends  of  the  regulas,  as 
carved  while  the  epistyle  blocks  were  still  upon  the  ground, 
somewhat  longer  than  the  required  dimension,  (namely,  the 
width  of  the  triglyphs  to  which  they  appertained,)  thus  se¬ 
curing  the  possibility  of  a  subsequent  correction.  There 
does,  indeed,  seem  to  be  a  difference  in  tooling  between  cer¬ 
tain  of  the  patches  adjoining  the  regulas,  and  the  rest  of  the 
epistyle  face,  although  the  weathering  of  the  coarse  stone 
renders  it  difficult  to  judge  of  this  point  with  certainty.1 

Truly,  the  execution  of  a  Doric  entablature  in  primitive 
times,  without  the  aid  of  working  drawings  on  a  large  scale, 
or  of  accurately  computed  measurements,  was  a  complicated 
and  difficult  work.  The  architects  Tarchesios,  Pythios,  and 
Hermogenes,2  were  not  without  good  grounds  when  they 
complained  of  the  irksomeness  of  laying  out  the  Doric  mem- 
berment,  especially  the  division  of  the  frieze,  and  the  other 
details  of  the  entablature  thereupon  dependent. 

Fortunately,  we  are  provided,  by  the  difference  in  tooling 

1  The  probability  that  the  triglyphs  and  metopes  were  placed  in  position 
before  the  ends  of  the  regulas  were  cut  upon  the  epistyle  tends  to  disprove 
the  etymological  note  of  Botticher,  Tektonik ,  p.  204 :  “  Regula  ist  wohl  Uebertra- 
gung  von  kclvwv,  also  Richtscheid  oder  Norm  fiir  die  Statte  der  Triglyphen.” 
Even  viewed  solely  in  the  light  of  constructive  development  this  is  an  altogether 
arbitrary  assumption.  The  word  Regula,  employed  by  Vitruvius  (IV.  3.  4),  needs 
only  to  be  taken  in  its  literal  meaning,  —  a  straight  piece  of  wood,  a  ruler. 

2  Quoted  by  Vitruvius,  IV.  3.  1.  Tarchesios  is  probably  identical  with 
Argelios,  the  builder  of  the  temple  of  Asklepios  at  Tralles  (Vitr.,  VII.  Pref.  12) 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


95 


on  the  beds  and  on  the  soffits  of  the  epistyle  blocks  of  the  tem¬ 
ple  of  Assos,  with  a  means  of  ascertaining  that  the  triglyphs 
situated  above  the  columns  were  but  little  out  of  the  axes  ; 
the  maximum  error  in  this  respect  amounting  to  less  than 
5  cm.  A  greater  irregularity  than  this  would,  indeed,  have 
been  intolerable.  In  the  jointing  of  the  epistyle  beams  them¬ 
selves,  on  the  other  hand,  so  little  attention  was  paid  to  a 
correspondence  with  the  axes  of  the  supports,  that  the  half- 
regulas  cut  upon  the  ends  of  the  blocks  vary  in  length  from 
ii  to  46  cm.  ;  the  joints  themselves  must  have  been  so  close 
that  this  want  of  agreement  did  not  force  itself  upon  the 
attention  of  the  observer,  as  did  the  irregularities  in  the 
width  of  the  triglyphs  and  metopes.  Thus  no  aesthetic  con¬ 
sideration  required  an  equalization  of  the  lintels,  which  were 
worked,  as  chanced  to  be  convenient,  from  the  stones  pro¬ 
vided  by  the  quarrymen.  The  differences  in  length  have, 
however,  to  be  taken  into  account  in  the  attempt  to  determine 
the  arrangement  of  the  reliefs  upon  the  fronts  and  sides  of 
the  building. 

The  backs  of  the  triglyphs  were  so  cut  that  the  lower  half 
formed  a  rough  boss,  which  corresponded  with  the  projection 
upon  the  upper  half  of  the  epistyle  beams,  and,  together  with 
it,  came  into  bond  with  the  second  course  of  the  main  entab¬ 
lature.  This  boss,  retaining  the  marks  of  the  quarrying, 
projects  from  8  to  12,  and  varies  in  height  from  22  to  35  cm. 
Compare  Figures  12  and  14. 

as  has  been  assumed  by  Schneider  and  Marini  in  their  editions  of  Vitruvius, 
Pythios  worked  at  Priene  (Vitr.,  I.  1.  12)  and  Halikarnassos  (Vitr.,  VII.  Pref. 
12,  and  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.,  XXXVI.  5.  4,  §  31) ;  Hermogenes  at  Magnesia  (Vitr., 
III.  2.  6)  and  Teos  (Vitr.,  VII.  Pref.  12).  All  three  are  thus  seen  to  have 
been  Asiatic,  and  their  remarks  concerning  the  Doric  system  without  doubt 
express  the  opinion  as  to  that  style  prevalent  in  Asia  Minor.  This  is  a  point  of 
much  interest  in  the  present  connection,  for  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
temple  of  Assos  (with  exception  of  the  small  fane,  of  much  later  date,  at  Perga- 
mon)  is  the  only  known  Doric  temple  on  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Aegean. 


96 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Both  triglyphs  and  metopes  were  shifted  to  an  exact  posi¬ 
tion  by  means  of  levers  applied  in  pry-holes  cut  upon  the 
upper  surface  of  the  outer  epistyle  beams,  and  show  upon 
their  beds  the  shift-holes,  or  rectangular  slots  which  provided 
a  hold  for  the  lifting  crowbar,  the  function  of  which  has  been 
described  in  connection  with  the  epistyle.  The  pry-holes 
visible  upon  the  top  of  the  epistyle  beams  conclusively  prove 
that  triglyphs  and  metopes  were  placed  in  position  alternately. 


O  -  - -3 

1  -m. 

Fig.  14.  Triglyph,  Face  and  Side. 

The  triglyphs  were  not  laid  first,  and  the  metopes  then  slipped 
in  between  them  from  above,  as  has  been  frequently  assumed 
by  writers  upon  Greek  architecture.1  The  joints  between  the 
two  were  hidden  by  inserting  the  edges  of  the  metopes  into 
rabbets,  cut  upon  the  sides  of  the  triglyphs  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  faces  of  the  former  came  to  be  6  cm.  farther  back 
than  those  of  the  latter.  The  form  of  these  rabbets  —  which 

This  time-honored  error  has  been  illustrated  by  a  steel  engraving  in  the 
Expedition  Scientifique  de  Moree,  vol.  iii.  plate  10.  Paris,  1831. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


97 


were  shaped  to  receive  the  projecting  band  along  the  upper 
part  of  the  metopes,  but  not  the  delicate  hawk’s-bill  moulding 
terminating  them  —  is  shown  in  the  side  view  of  a  triglyph, 
Figure  14. 

The  genera]  arrangement  of  the  cornice  has  been  described 
in  the  First  Report.  So  great  are  the  inevitable  irregulari¬ 
ties  in  the  distribution  of  the  mutules,  as  to  make  it  probable 
that  at  least  the  soffit  of  the  corona  was  not  carved  until  the 
members  of  the  frieze  had  been  laid  upon  the  epistyle,  and 
the  position  of  the  individual  cornice  blocks  in  relation  to 
them  exactly  determined. 

The  spacing  of  the  mutules  —  the  lacunaria,  which  in 
the  passage  of  Vitruvius,  before  quoted,1  is  referred  to  as  so 
troublesome  —  could  not  >vell  be  laid  out,  or  even  corrected, 
by  the  stone-cutter,  after  the  blocks  of  the  cornice  had  been 
placed  in  position.  For  it  was  requisite  that  the  length  of 
the  separate  stones  which  formed  the  cornice  should  exactly 
correspond  with  the  divisions  determined  by  the  irregular 
widths  of  the  triglyphs  and  metopes.  Moreover,  the  inclina¬ 
tion  of  the  soffit,  forming  an  acute  angle  with  the  vertical  face 
of  the  entablature,  would  have  cramped  the  workmen,  and 
would  of  itself  alone  have  rendered  it  necessary  to  cut  the 
deep  interstices  between  the  mutules  before  the  blocks  were 
set  in  place. 

The  surfaces  of  lateral  contact  formed  by  the  anathyrosis 
upon  the  cornice  blocks  averaged  55  mm.  in  width;  the  sink¬ 
ing  between  them  being,  in  some  cases,  as  deep  as  three 
centimeters. 

From  the  marks  upon  the  overthrown  stones  we  may 
recognize  two  distinct  methods  of  lifting  these  heavy  cornice 

1  The  word  lacunaria  in  this  passage,  IV.  3.  1,  should  not,  I  think,  be  trans¬ 
lated  “ceiling,”  as  it  usually  is,  (for  instance  by  Brunn,  Geschichte  der  Griechischen 
Kiinstler ,  vol.  ii.  p.  359,  Stuttgart,  1859,)  but  rather  the  soffit  of  the  corona,  or  the 
mutules. 


7 


98 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE . 


blocks  into  position  ;  the  one  by  means  of  ropes  looped  into 
broad  and  deep  U-shaped  grooves  cut  upon  the  lateral  joint 
surfaces,  A,  Figure  15  ;  the  other  by  means  of  iron  hooks,  or 
dogs,  grappling  into  comparatively  small  and  shallow  slots  in 
the  same  position,  b,  Figure  15.  The  first  of  these,  the  deep 
grooves,  are  observable  in  other  Doric  edifices  of  early  period, 
—  as,  for  instance,  the  temples  of  Aigina,  Paestum,  and  Se- 

linous.  Although 
they  required  much 
more  stone  to  be 
cut  from  the  block 
than  did  the  slots  of 
the  second  method, 
they  were  far  less 
secure.  When  the 
projection  was  not 
sufficiently  great,  or 
A  sufficiently  under¬ 
cut,  there  was  dan¬ 
ger  of  the  loop  slip¬ 
ping  off ;  and  by 
0  ‘  i,„  the  swinging  of  the 

Fig.  15.  Ends  of  Cornice  Blocks,  showing  heavv  hlncLs  thf* 
Attachments  of  Derrick  Tackle  :  A,  for  \  ,  r 

Looped  Rope;  B,  for  Iron  Dog..  rough  edges  of  the 

stone  must  always 

have  sawed  upon  the  fibre  of  the  rope.  In  one  instance  at 
Assos,  that  of  an  exceptionally  heavy  corner  piece,  the  entire 
U-shaped  boss  had  broken  away,  and  was  replaced  by  a  deep 
slot,  into  which  the  end  of  a  beam  could  be  inserted.  Of  the 
second  variety,  a  square  or  oblong  slot,  about  8  cm.  in  width,  is 
the  most  simple  form,  and  is,  as  a  general  rule,  employed  upon 
one  end  of  all  those  stones  which  were  lifted  by  grapples. 
Stones  upon  both  ends  of  which  were  simple  slots  of  this  kind 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


99 


could  not,  of  course,  be  laid  to  a  close  joint,  on  account  of  the 
bar  of  the  lifting-iron  intervening.  It  was  necessary  to  cut, 
upon  one  at  least  of  the  two  surfaces  meeting  at  a  joint,  a  ver¬ 
tical  channel,  through  which  the  grapple  could  be  released  and 
withdrawn.  This  channel  was  made  either  sufficiently  deep 
in  plan  for  the  hook  of  the  iron  —  the  dog  —  to  pass  freely 
when  slipped  backwards,  towards  the  joint ;  or  sufficiently 


Fig.  16.  Cornice  Block,  as  tilted  in  Lifting.  —  Release  for 

turning  Grapple. 


broad  to  permit  the  grapple  to  be  turned  90°  on  its  vertical 
axis,  and  to  be  withdrawn  in  that  position,  as  shown  in  Figure 
1 6.  The  latter  arrangement,  complicated  as  it  appears,  was 
somewhat  the  more  economical  in  respect  to  stone-cutting, 
as  it  did  not  require  the  horizontal  slot  to  be  sunk  to  so  great 
a  depth  as  did  the  former. 

One  of  the  blocks  of  the  cornice,  upon  the  southern  side 
of  the  building,  deserves  particular  remark.  It  evidently 


IOO 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


adjoined  a  stone,  inserted  between  two  others  already  in  po¬ 
sition,  which  is  to  be  considered  as  the  very  last  laid.  This 
last  stone  seems  to  have  been  swung  into  the  air,  above  the 
entablature,  before  it  was  noticed  that  in  this  case  both  of 
the  ends  ought  to  have  been  provided  with  vertical  channels 
through  which  the  lifting-irons  could  be  withdrawn,  and  that, 
as  it  was,  it  could  not  be  set.  The  difficulty  was  ingeniously 
met,  not  by  lowering  the  stone  and  cutting  the  second  chan¬ 
nel  upon  it,  but  by  sinking  the  release  upon  the  corresponding 
joint  surface  of  the  adjoining  block,  here  in  question. 

It  appears  from  the  position  of  all  the  grooves  and  slots 
in  the  ends  of  the  cornice  blocks,  that  these  stones  were 
so  balanced  as  to  incline  slightly  towards  their  front  edge, 
which  thus  touched  the  bed  first,  and  could  be  adjusted  with 
great  accuracy  upon  the  given  line  above  the  triglyphs  and 
metopes.  Compare  Figure  1 6.  The  tilt  requisite  for  this 
expedient  was  determined  by  the  position  of  the  lifting  slots, 
which  were  cut  somewhat  farther  back  from  the  face  than  the 
centre  of  gravity ;  the  exact  point  being  without  doubt  ascer¬ 
tained  by  some  graphic  method  based  upon  the  section,  as 
actual  experiment  was  scarcely  possible.  It  may  be  remarked, 
parenthetically,  that  modern  research  constantly  tends  to 
prove  that  the  unequalled  refinements  of  classic  architecture 
—  perhaps  the  most  striking  instances  of  which  are  presented 
by  the  corrections  of  optical  illusions,  namely,  the  curvature 
of  the  horizontals,  and  the  inclination  and  entasis  of  the  col¬ 
umns  —  were,  like  the  solution  of  static  problems  such  as 
those  in  question,  arrived  at  rather  by  the  means  of  architec¬ 
tural  drawings  on  a  large  scale  than  by  any  system  of  arith¬ 
metical  calculation.  This  was  in  accordance  with  one  of  the 
dominant  traits  of  Greek  intelligence,  which  delighted  in  the 
expression  of  an  idea  by  some  material  representation. 

In  the  variety  of  methods  employed  in  lifting  the  cornice 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


IOI 


blocks  of  the  temple  of  Assos,  we  have  another  indication 
of  the  many  independent  hands  engaged  upon  the  structure. 
Throughout  the  edifice  there  was  as  entire  a  lack  of  con¬ 
structive  as  of  artistic  unity,  —  a  fact  which  is  to  be  borne 
in  mind  in  the  consideration  of  the  provincial  character  and 
the  archaic  semblance,  yet  comparatively  recent  age,  of  the 
sculptures,  so  unequal  in  point  of  style. 

Having  been  set  in  position,  the  cornice  blocks  were  united 
by  iron  cramps,  sunk  into  the  upper  surface  of  the  stone  at 
about  the  middle  of  the  bed,  namely,  70  cm.  from  the  face 
of  the  corona.  These  cramps,  averaging  2  cm.  in  section, 
were  formed  of  exceedingly  tough  wrought  iron,  and  were  set 
by  a  lead  casting.  A  specimen  is  preserved  in  the  Museum 
at  Boston,  No.  M.  578.  • 

The  profile  of  the  hawk  s-bill  moulding  which  terminated 
the  cornice  is  shown  on  a  large  scale  in  Figure  10,  b. 

The  cornice  block  from  the  southeastern  corner  of  the  edi¬ 
fice,  Figure  17,  is  of  particular  interest,  inasmuch  as  it  dis¬ 
plays  almost  all  the  marks  of  dowels,  cramps,  lifting  holes,  etc., 
occurring  upon  the  course  to  which  it  belongs.  It  may  hence 
be  considered  somewhat  in  detail,  as  an  example  of  the  many 
indications  which  may  be  derived  even  from  a  single  displaced 
block. 

The  holes  for  the  grapple  irons  of  the  derrick  tackle  by 
which  this  heavy  stone  was  lifted  are  to  be  seen  upon  both  of 
its  ends.  One  of  these  ends  is  exceptional,  in  being,  not  a  joint 
surface,  but  the  exposed  face  of  the  eastern  corona.  It  was 
thought  preferable  to  disfigure  this  member  by  cutting  a  deep 
square  slot  upon  it,  rather  than  to  depart  from  the  regular 
method  of  attaching  the  tackle  by  the  adoption  of  some  other 
form  of  iron  hook,  which  might,  indeed,  have  been  made  to 
find  a  hold  upon  the  outer  edge  of  the  corner  mutule,  but  would 
have  been  liable  to  slip  unless  a  dog-hole  had  there  been  cut. 


102 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE . 


1 — 

El 

M 

t . — - 

1  _ 

,  N'  ' 

f 

A - l'“ 

—/I 

.  ") 

[U 

N. 

~  s - - 

- - 

1 


Fig.  i 7.  Cornice  Block  from  Southeastern 
Corner.  —  Upper  Surface  and  End. 


A  further  disadvan¬ 
tage  of  the  plan  adopt¬ 
ed  was  that  the  hawk’s- 
■  bill  moulding  of  the 
front  had  to  be  cut 
quite  through  at  a, 
Fig.  17,  in  order  to  al¬ 
low  the  grapple,  when 
hooked  into  the  slot 
b,  to  lie  flat  against 
the  vertical  face  of  the 
corona.  It  is,  of  course, 
to  be  assumed  that  the 
hole  in  the  face  of 
the  corona,  and  the 
unsightly  notch  in  the 
moulding  above  it,  were 
filled  in  and  bridged 
over  with  a  stucco  of 
the  same  color  as  the 
stone.  Upon  the  in¬ 
ner  western  end  of  the 
block  —  a  joint  surface 
—  the  grapple  slot  is 
provided  with  a  release 
channel,  c,  for  turning 
the  iron,  like  that  pre¬ 
viously  described,  and 
illustrated  in  Fig.  16. 
This  proves  that  the 
adjoining  stone  of  the 
southern  cornice  was 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


103 

set  before  the  corner  block  was  swung  into  position.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  adjoining  block  of  the  eastern  cornice, 
which  was  laid  afterwards,  cannot  have  had  a  release  of  any 
kind,  for  we  see  at  d,  Fig.  17,  that  a  broad  channel  for  this 
purpose  was  cut  upon  the  corner  block,  without  doubt  after  it 
had  been  placed  in  position,  and  the  equilibrium  of  the  next 
stone  ascertained  by  a  graphic  method,  as  before  explained. 

The  iron  cramps  which  attached  the  block  to  those  adjoin¬ 
ing  it  were  sunk  in  carefully  cut  grooves  at  e  and  f.  In  order 
to  profit  by  the  stability  which  was  afforded  to  the  next  stone 
of  the  front  by  the  great  depth  of  bed,  from  east  to  west,  of 
this  corner  block,  and  more  particularly  in  order  to  anchor 
the  stones  of  the  front  cornice  together  for  the  purpose  of 
resisting  the  lateral  thrust  exercised,  as  will  presently  be 
shown,  in  this  line  by  the  inclined  course  of  the  pediment 
cornice,  the  cramp  at  f  was  placed  much  farther  in  from  the 
face  of  the  cornice  than  was  that  at  e. 

In  the  tooling  of  the  upper  surface  the  bed,  g,  for  the 
stone  carved  with  the  gargoyle,  serving  also  as  a  base  for  the 
corner  acroterion,  was  permitted  to  project  above  the  rest, 
having  the  full  slant  of  the  gable,  requisite  for  the  continua¬ 
tion  of  the  gutter  channel  to  the  orifice  in  the  lion’s  mouth. 
The  inclination  of  this  surface,  g,  may  be  seen  in  the  drawing 
of  the  end  of  the  cornice  block,  Fig.  17.  The  superposed 
stone,  subjected  as  it  was  to  the  thrust  of  the  terra-cotta  gut¬ 
ter  of  the  front,  was  securely  attached  to  the  cornice  block 
by  four  vertical  dowels  at  h,  h',  h",  and  h'  .  On  all  the 
cornice  stones  of  the  front  a  plane  bed,  level  with  the  top 
of  the  hawk’s-bill  moulding,  was  cut  to  receive  the  blocks 
which  formed  the  tympanon  veil,  —  the  face  of  which  was 
situated  in  the  line  j.  The  first  of  the  stones  of  the  pedi¬ 
ment  cornice,  cut  to  an  acute  angle,  rested  directly  upon  the 
corner  block,  having  a  bearing  against  an  exceedingly  stout 


104 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


dowel,  the  large  hole  for  which  is  to  be  seen  at  k.  This 
dowel  must  have  been  quite  sufficient  to  prevent  any  slipping 
of  the  pediment  cornice  block  along  its  bed,  to  which  it  was 
exposed  through  the  thrust  of  the  other  stones  of  this  course, 
lying  as  they  did  upon  an  inclined  plane.  At  no  point  in  the 
entire  structure  did  more  depend  upon  the  expedient  of  metal 
bondings,  and  nowhere  is  greater  forethought  and  care  dis¬ 
played  in  their  arrangement  and  execution.  In  recognition 
of  the  fact  that  'the  force  tending  to  outer  displacement  was 
mainly  exercised  against  this  dowel,  it  was  placed  in  a  line 
with  the  cramp  f,  by  which  the  corner  block  was  anchored 
to  the  other  stones  of  the  front  cornice  ;  the  cramp  f  having 
for  this  purpose  been  removed  fully  one  third  farther  from 
the  corona  edge  than  was  the  cramp  e.  In  the  intimate 
relations  of  these  bondings,  bearing  upon  different  courses 
and  fixed  at  different  times,  we  have  a  striking  proof  of  the 
thought  bestowed  by  the  designer,  before  the  erection  of  the 
building,  upon  constructive  details  apparently  of  little  signifi¬ 
cance,  whose  disposition  would,  in  a  modern  work,  probably 
be  left  to  haphazard. 

From  the  sinking  of  right-angled  plan  cut-  in  the  untooled 
boss  of  stone  remaining,  at  l,  between  the  bed  for  the  pedi¬ 
ment  cornice  and  the  bed  for  the  wall-plate  and  rafters,  m, 
it  must  be  assumed  that  the  thrust  of  the  pediment  cornice 
was  exercised,  in  its  lowest  block,  not  directly  against  the 
small  surface  of  the  dowel  at  k,  but  against  the  bar  of  iron 
interposed  between  dowel  and  stone,  and  affording  a  broader 
surface  for  the  pressure.  From  the  size  of  the  sinking  in 
the  boss  l,  this  bar  may  be  judged  to  have  had  a  width  of 
about  io  cm.  It  was  probably  not  longer  than  60  cm.,  and 
did  not  extend  farther  to  the  east  than  to  the  west  of  k,  bein£ 
imbedded  in  a  socket  cut  upon  the  lower  outer  edge  of  the 
first  pediment  cornice  block,  so  that  the  end  of  the  metal  bar 
was  not  exposed  upon  the  face  of  the  gable. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883.  105 

The  plane  bed  for  the  roof  timbering,  m,  extended  along 
the  sides  of  the  building,  upon  a  level  with  the  upper  edge 
of  the  hawk’s-bill  moulding,  from  which  it  is  distant  about 
53  cm.  Upon  this  bed  lay  the  wall-plate,  n  n',  into  which 
were  mortised  the  main  rafters,  the  first  of  these  being  situ¬ 
ated,  as  will  presently  be  shown,  in  the  line  o  o'.  The  upper 
surface  of  the  cornice,  which  remained  between  this  plane  bed 
and  the  outer  edge  of  the  stones,  namely,  a  strip  about  half  a 
meter  in  width,  is  roughly  split  to  the  slope  of  the  roof  tiles  ; 
that  is  to  say,  somewhat  less  than  the  150  slant  of  the  gable, 
owing  to  the  overlapping  ends  of  the  tiles.  The  nature  of  this 
difference  in  slope  will  be  readily  understood  by  a  glance  at 
the  section  of  the  entablature  and  roof  above  the  pteroma, 
Fig.  12.  The  line  of  inclination  is  shown  by  dots  upon  the 
drawing  of  the  end  of  the  corner  cornice  block,  Fig.  17. 
Along  this  rough-split  surface,  at  a  distance  of  18  cm.  from 
the  edge,  is  cut  a  groove,  p  p',  averaging  3  cm.  in  depth, 
the  purpose  of  which  was  to  receive  the  bent  inner  edges  of 
a  course  of  ornamental  tiles,  subsequently  to  be  described. 
These  tiles  were  attached  to  the  cornice  blocks  by  iron  dowels 
of  peculiar  shape,  two  of  which,  q  and  q',  appear  upon  the 
cornice  block.  The  dowels  of  the  gargoyle  were  of  square 
section,  those  of  the  antefixes  and  that  receiving  the  thrust  of 
the  pediment  cornice  were  round  rods  and  bars ;  those  of  the 
lighter  terra-cotta  course,  on  the  other  hand,  are  of  oblong  sec¬ 
tion,  considerably  thinner  than  the  ones  elsewhere  employed, 
as  they  were  not  called  upon  to  resist  any  considerable  strain, 
but  merely  to  prevent  an  accidental  displacement  of  the  long 
and  narrow  strips  of  terra-cotta  interposed  between  the  im¬ 
brices  and  the  stone. 

The  antefixes  which  terminated  the  lines  of  tegulae  were 
each  attached  to  the  cornice  by  two  dowels,  the  corner  block 
showing  borings  for  them  at  r  r'  and  s  s'.  The  position  of 


io6 


A  RCH /£ OL  OGICA L  INSTITUTE. 


these  irons  furthermore  indicates  the  axes  of  the  tegulae 
at  t  and  t',  and  consequently  the  situation  of  the  rafters, 
upon  which  the  imbrices  were  placed  without  the  interven¬ 
tion  of  purlins  or  slots.  The  first  rafter  above  mentioned  is 
shown  by  dotted  lines  at  o  o'.  The  most  easterly  of  the 
antefixes  are  thus  seen  to  have  been  removed  exactly  the 
width  of  one  imbrex  from  the  terra-cotta  gutter  of  the  gable. 
We  must,  however,  here  terminate  our  examination  of  this 
interesting  corner  cornice  block,  reserving  the  more  detailed 
description  of  the  roofing  for  a  later  section. 

On  the  gable  ends  of  the  building  the  cornice  blocks  were 
smoothly  tooled  upon  their  upper  surfaces,  in  order  to  receive 
the  upright  slabs  which  formed  the  tympanon  wall.  One  of 
the  stones  in  question,  from  the  western  front,  is  so  stepped 
that  the  bed  thus  provided  rises  to  a  height  of  6  cm.  above 
the  tympanon  floor.  From  these  indications  it  is  evident 
that  the  depth  of  the  gable  field,  exclusive  of  the  beak 
moulding  of  the  corona,  was  41  cm.  The  reveal  was  con¬ 
sequently  not  greater  than  the  projection  of  the  main  cornice, 
differing  in  this  respect  from  the  Parthenon  and  the  temple 
of  Aigina,  where  it  was  necessary  to  increase  the  width  of 
the  tympanon  floor  because  of  the  gable  groups  standing  upon 
it.1  At  Assos  the  wall  veil  was  very  nearly  (within  2  cm.) 
in  the  same  plane  as  the  face  of  the  entablature. 

FYom  the  traces  upon  the  cornice  blocks  before  mentioned, 
it  is  further  possible  to  ascertain  that  the  tympanon  wall 
itself  was  formed  of  stones  which  varied  from  36  to  40  cm.  in 
thickness.  During  the  excavations  of  the  second  year  three 
of  these  stones,  belonging  to  the  western  gable,  were  brought 
to  light.  Of  equal  width,  varying  in  this  dimension  but  a 

1  In  the  Parthenon  and  in  'the  temple  of  Aigina  the  width  of  the  tympanon 
floor  is  greater  than  the  projection  of  the  main  cornice  by  respectively  one  eighth 
and  two  elevenths  of  the  entire  thickness  of  the  entablature. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


107 


few  millimeters  from  92  cm.,  they  were  respectively  0.59  and 
0.837,  0-837  and  1.084,  and  1.084  and  1.33  m.  in  height.  The 
proportions  and  constructive  arrangement  of  the  tympanon 
wall  became  perfectly  clear  through  this  discovery.  The  tri¬ 
angular  veil,  with  a  total  length  of  12.64,  had  a  total  height 
of  1.695  m.,  —  the  rise  in  the  three  stones  recovered  being  ex¬ 
actly  0.268  to  the  unit  of  length.  It  is  furthermore  evident, 
that  a  single  slab,  of  pentagonal  shape,  occupied  the  centre 
of  the  field,  and  that  the  three  stones  found  were  the  sec¬ 
ond,  third,  and  fourth  upon  the  north  of  this.  The  entire 
wall  must  consequently  have  been  formed  of  thirteen  stones. 
This  would  seem  to  be  a  more  perfect  arrangement  than  that 
attained  by  the  adoption  of  any  even  number  of  slabs,  which 
must  result,  as  in  the  Parthenon  and  Theseion,  in  a  central 
joint,  with  two  acute  angles  at  the  apex  of  the  wall  veil,  in¬ 
stead  of  the  one  obtuse  angle,  more  easily  cut,  and  less  liable 
to  fracture. 

In  the  restoration  of  the  temple,  given  in  the  First  Report,1 
it  was  assumed,  from  a  comparison  of  Doric  temples  of  about 
the  same  age,  that  the  inclination  of  the  gable  was  as  one  in 
four.  The  difference  between  this  assumption  and  the  truth 
now  ascertained,  namely,  between  0.25  and  0.268  in  the  unit, 
amounts  to  but  n  cm.  in  the  total  height  of  the  gable.  This 
deviation  is  nevertheless  sufficient  to  make  it  certain  that 
the  slant  of  one  in  four,  so  easily  laid  out  with  entire  accu¬ 
racy,  was  not  fixed  upon  by  the  architect.  Indeed,  no  simple 
arithmetical  ratio  corresponds  with  the  proportions  now  rec¬ 
ognized.  But  on  examination  it  will  be  seen  that  the  angle 
of  inclination  is,  with  extraordinary  accuracy,  fifteen  degrees, 
there  being  hardly  the  error  of  a  single  minute  involved  in 
the  dimensions  of  these  blocks,  which  themselves  represent 
nearly  half  of  the  entire  slope. 


1  Preliminary  Report,  Plate  14. 


io8 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


It  will  be  remembered  that  the  right  angles  at  the  corners 
of  the  building  were  found,  when  tested  by  instruments  of 
precision,  to  have  deviated  but  one  tenth  of  a  degree  from  the 
true  square.  The  geometrical  accuracy  of  the  tympanon  tri¬ 
angle  is  hence  not  surprising.  Its  angle  of  inclination,  just 
one  sixth  of  that  which  had  been  employed  in  the  plan, 
could  readily  be,  and  doubtless  was,  laid  out  by  dividing  the 
arc  of  the  quadrant  into  equal  parts.  We  have  here  a  fur¬ 
ther  instance  of  the  preference  so  generally  shown  by  Greek 
architects  for  graphic  methods  of  design,  —  for  geometrical 
rather  than  arithmetical  proportions.  In  such  a  gable  no 
eye  could  have  detected  the  difference  between  the  height 
resulting  from  the  ratio  of  one  to  four,  and  that  determined 
by  an  angle  of  inclination  equal  to  fifteen  degrees.  It  is  a 
significant  fact,  that  the  designer  chose  the  latter,  rather 
than  the  former,  method  of  approximation  to  a  purely  aes¬ 
thetic  ideal. 

The  largest  of  the  three  gable  blocks  (Fig.  18)  presents  a 
curious  peculiarity.  The  stone  is  a  rejected  cornice  block, 
and  still  shows  upon  the  back,  which  was  hidden  from  view, 
the  mutules  and  rectangular  steppings  of  the  corona  soffit. 
It  appears  to  have  been  rendered  unserviceable,  before  the 
completion  of  the  entablature,  through  some  fracture  of  the 
end  which  has  been  cut  off,  or  through  the  mutilation  of 
the  projecting  hawk’s-bill  moulding.  None  of  those  cornice 
details  which  still  remain  upon  the  stone,  now  reduced  to 
six  sevenths  of  its  original  length,  show  defects  sufficient  to 
account  for  its  condemnation.  One  of  the  end  ^int  sur¬ 
faces  became  the  bed  of  the  gable  block,  the  other  being 
cut  to  the  required  slope,  while  the  back  was  straightened, 
and  the  moulding  removed  from  the  front,  so  as  to  allow  of 
close  jointing  upon  the  sides.  A  deep  slot,  75  mm.  square, 
was  sunk  into  the  face  of  the  former  corona,  and  into  the 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


IO9 


opposite  side,  so  as  to  afford  a  hold  for  the  lifting  tackle. 
The  two  other  slabs  of  the  tympanon  wall  were  raised  by 
the  same  means.  After  being  released  from  the  grapples,  the 
stones  were  shifted  into  close  contact  by  means  of  levers 
applied  in  pry-holes,  which  are  to  be  observed  upon  the 


Fig.  18.  Rejected  Cornice  Block,  recut  for  Employment  in 

T^ympanon  Veil. 

smoothed  tops  of  the  cornice  blocks  of  the  eastern  and 
western  fronts  of  the  temple. 

The  tympanon  corona  was  provided  with  the  customary 
hawk’s-bill  moulding,  to  separate  its  soffit  from  the  upright 
surface  of  the  tympanon  wall.  It  was  undercut  not  less  than 
73  mm.  in  a  projection  of  41  cm.  At  the  re-entering  angle 


I  IO 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


thus  formed  the  stones  were  only  15  cm.  in  thickness,  —  too 
little  for  such  a  coarse-grained  material,  although  they  were 
required  to  support  no  weight  except  the  light  gutter  of  terra¬ 
cotta.  Almost  all  those  which  were  found  had  been  broken 
at  this  point  by  their  fall. 

It  is  worthy  of  especial  remark,  that  the  system  of  effecting 
an  accurate  jointing  by  means  of  leverage  was  adopted  even 
in  the  case  of  the  gable  cornice,  which  rested  upon  an  in¬ 
clined  bed.  Pry-holes  are  visible  upon  the  slanting  upper 
surfaces  of  the  three  blocks  from  the  tympanon  wall.  The 
joints  themselves,  as  in  all  Greek  gables,  were  not  vertical, 
but  at  right  angles  to  the  slope. 

There  were  no  indications  whatever  which  could  lead  to 
a  belief  that  the  tympanon  was  ornamented  by  sculptures. 
On  the  contrary,  the  entire  lack  of  such  an  extensive  dowel- 
ling  as  would  have  been  rendered  necessary  by  the  presence 
of  statues  is  quite  sufficient  to  prove  that  gable  groups  never 
existed.  Upon  the  upper  surfaces  of  two  of  the  cornice 
blocks  of  the  main  front,  that  is  to  say,  upon  the  floor  of  the 
eastern  tympanon,  small  pins  of  metal  were  found  to  have 
been  driven  into  the  stone  ;  without  doubt  for  the  purpose 
of  affixing  votive  offerings,  of  no  great  size  or  weight.  Un¬ 
fortunately,  these  indications  do  not  suffice  to  convey  any 
idea  of  the  actual  character  of  such  decorations,  which  may 
have  been  permanent  agalmata,  or  merely  festive  garlands 
of  leaves  and  flowers. 

The  inner  side  of  the  entablature  appears  to  have  been 
entirely  plain.  That  this  was  the  case  with  the  inner  epi¬ 
style  is  rendered  certain  by  the  lintels  brought  to  light  during 
the  digging  of  the  second  year;  and  that  the  upper  blocks 
were  likewise  without  memberment  is  to  be  assumed  from 
the  fact  of  there  being  no  fragment  of  string-courses  or 
mouldings  appertaining  to  the  structure  to  which  a  position 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


I  I  I 


is  not  elsewhere  assignable.  In  this  respect  the  temple  of 
Assos  agrees  with  the  Attic  Doric  of  the  fifth  century,  rather 
than  with  the  archaic  style  of  the  farther  West. 

The  character  of  the  inner  lintel  has  already  been  set  forth. 
As  to  the  second  and  highest  course  of  the  inner  entablature, 
its  dimensions  may  be  determined  with  a  certain  degree  of 
accuracy  by  the  maximum  heights  and  projections  of  the 
bosses  upon  the  upper  half  of  the  outer  epistyle  and  upon  the 
lower  half  of  the  triglyphs,  the  results  thus  obtained  being 
checked  by  comparison  with  the  corresponding  measurements 
of  the  blocks  of  the  inner  lintel  actually  discovered.  Thus  it 
becomes  evident  that  the  second  course  was  of  very  nearly  the 
same  height  as  the  outer  epistyle  (82  cm.),  and  that  the  third 
or  uppermost  course,  was,  both  in  height  and  average  width, 
the  same  as  the  first,  or  lowest  (namely,  the  inner  epistyle), 
the  variation  in  no  respect  having  been  greater  than  half  an 
inch.  There  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  this  agreement  was 
intentional,  especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  total  thick¬ 
ness  of  the  entablature  was  in  like  manner  equal  to  the  height 
of  the  epistyle.  It  appears  probable  that  some  unit  of  meas¬ 
urement  was  here  embodied.  The  thickness  of  the  second 
course  did  not  exceed  35  cm. 

The  pteroma,  vestibule,  and  pronaos  of  the  temple  were 
covered  with  a  ceiling  of  coffered  stone  beams,  the  recog¬ 
nition  and  restoration  of  which  was  entirely  a  work  of  the 
second  year.  Small  fragments  of  two  of  these  beams  were 
brought  to  light  during  the  digging  upon  the  site  of  the 
temple ;  two  remaining  in  their  entire  length  are  to  be  seen 
built  into  the  walls  of  the  Mosque  which  stands  upon  the 
northernmost  terrace  of  the  Acropolis,1  and  twelve  others, 
more  or  less  perfect,  were  found  among  the  debris  of  the 
lower  town  ;  namely,  seven  near  the  foundations  of  a  portico 


1  Preliminary  Report,  p.  93,  Plate  23. 


I  12 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


situated  one  hundred  meters  west  of  the  Greek  Bath,  and  five 
in  a  modern  enclosure  about  the  same  distance  southeast  of 
the  Bouleuterion. 

Three  considerations  make  it  evident  that  these  stones  be¬ 
longed  to  the  temple.  A  strong  presumption  is  supplied,  in 
the  first  place,  by  the  presence  of  several  of  these  beams 
among  the  ruins  upon  the  summit  of  the  Acropolis,  where 
the  remains  of  no  other  antique  building  are  to  be  found. 
Carved  blocks  known  to  have  been  derived  from  the  lower 
town  —  among  them  a  marble  capital  from  the  Greek  Bath 
and  an  inscribed  lintel  from  a  Christian  church  —  have,  it  is 
true,  been  incorporated  into  the  Mosque  which  stands  upon 
the  lower  terrace  of  the  Acropolis.  Stones  so  shaped  as  to  be 
of  service  to  the  Turkish  builders  were  undoubtedly  removed 
from  a  considerable  distance  to  the  site  of  the  Mosque ;  but 
with  the  fragments  of  coffered  beams  before  mentioned  the 
case  is  altogether  different.  It  would  be  misleading  to 
refer  to  the  marble  blocks  in  the  facade  of  the  Mosque  in 
explanation  of  the  remains  of  a  stone  ceiling  buried  in  the 
earth  which  covered  the  plan  of  the  ancient  temple,  amongst 
the  ruins  of  this  one  edifice,  and  of  no  other.  It  is  more  than 
improbable  that  useless  blocks  belonging  to  any  structure  in 
the  lower  town  would  ever  have  been  carried  up  this  great 
height.  On  the  contrary,  the  materials  of  the  temple  fur¬ 
nished  enough  and  to  spare  for  the  rude  mediaeval  fortifica¬ 
tions  of  the  citadel,  and,  having  in  part  been  rolled  over  the 
steep,  are  met  with  in  various  parts  of  the  enclosure  below. 
A  number  of  the  drums,  for  instance,  lie  upon  the  slopes  of 
the  southeast,  are  half  buried  among  the  ruins  of  the  Turkish 
village  at  the  north,  and  were  dug  out  of  the  debris  which 
chokes  the  reservoir  beneath  the  Agora.  Thus  the  coffered 
beams,  before  mentioned  as  having  been  found  upon  the  lower 
level,  show,  by  the  very  fact  of  their  discovery  nearly  half  a 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1SS3. 


“3 


kilometer  one  from  another,  that  they  must  have  been  re¬ 
moved  from  some  common  centre.  Of  exceptional  length, 
and  plane  upon  three  long  sides,  they  were  admirably  adapted 
to  serve  the  later  builders  as  jambs  and  lintels.  Nothing 
could  be  more  easy  than  to  drag  these  blocks  down  the  in¬ 
cline  from  the  Acropolis,  to  be  used  in  the  construction  of 
the  Christian  edifices  among  whose  ruins  they  were  found  ; 
nothing  more  unnatural  than  to  carry  them  to  a  height 
where  no  building  other  than  the  Doric  temple  ever  stood. 
The  wide  distribution  of  the  coffered  beams  is  fully  explained 
by  the  consideration  that  they  must  have  been  the  first  blocks 
of  the  temple  to  fall.  The  evenly  squared  stones  of  the  cella 
wall  must  have  been  regarded  with  covetous  eyes  by  all  those 
who  profited  by  that  edict  of  Theodosius  which  authorized 
the  destruction  of  heathen  temples  for  the  purpose  of  employ¬ 
ing  their  materials  in  the  erection  of  Christian  dwellings  ; 
and  these  stones  could  not  be  removed  until  the  ceiling  above 
the  pronaos  and  pteroma  had  been  overthrown. 

The  second  point  is  the  character  of  the  stone-dressing. 
The  marks  of  hammer  and  chisel,  still  to  be  seen  upon  some 
of  the  coffered  beams,  are  precisely  the  same  as  those  observ¬ 
able  throughout  the  temple.  The  untooled  upper  surfaces 
were  split  in  the  quarry  in  the  same  manner  as  were  the 
backs  of  the  main  lintels  ;  the  brush-hammered  finish  upon 
the  sides,  forming  a  shallow  anathyrosis,  is  like  that  upon  all 
the  blocks  of  the  entablature  ;  and,  finally,  the  beds  of  the 
beams  frequently  show  near  their  ends  those  peculiar  rectan¬ 
gular  notches,  cut  to  receive  the  end  of  the  lifting  crowbar 
during  the  process  of  shifting  the  stone,  which  have  been 
described  as  existing  upon  the  epistyle  blocks  and  the  tri¬ 
glyphs.  These  indications  are  sufficient  to  furnish  a  definite 
proof. 

In  the  third  place,  there  was  not  in  the  ancient  town  any 

8 


1 14  ^ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 

other  building  to  which  a  stone  ceiling  of  these  dimensions, 
or  of  such  a  variety  of  span,  could  have  belonged.  All  our 
knowledge  of  Greek  architectural  remains  leads  us  to  the 
belief  that  these  coffered  beams  appertained  to  a  temple,  and, 
judging  from  their  proportions  and  style  of  workmanship,  to 
an  archaic  Doric  peripteros.  It  cannot  be  that  a  building  of 
such  importance  as  that  which  is  attested  by  this  monumental 
ceiling  should  have  so  entirely  disappeared  that  no  traces 
whatever  of  it  should  have  been  brought  to  light  during  the 
course  of  investigations  so  thorough  as  those  at  Assos.  The 
small  size  of  the  town  itself  scarcely  allows  us  to  assume 
the  existence  of  two  temples  of  this  grandeur  within  its  walls. 

The  proofs  that  these  beams  belonged  to  the  coffered  ceil¬ 
ing  of  the  temple  are  stated  thus  in  detail,  because  the  fact  of 
the  discovery  of  the  stones  in  such  remote  localities  —  the 
majority  even  in  the  lower  town  —  might  otherwise  give  rise 
to  doubts  in  regard  to  the  correctness  of  the  identification,  in 
spite  of  the  agreement  of  every  dimension  with  the  plan  of 
arrangetnent  which  the  writer  believes  to  have  ascertained. 

As  in  the  Theseion,  and  other  Doric  temples,  the  coffers 
must  have  been  supported  upon  transverse  beams  extending 
from  the  entablature,  above  the  third  course  of  the  inner  side, 
to  the  cella  wall,  —  a  distance,  including  the  projection  of  the 
mouldings  upon  either  side,  of  2.14  m.  in  the  pteroma,  and 
4.06  m.  in  the  vestibule.  No  remains  of  these  supports  were 
recognized.  Tooled  as  they  were  upon  all  four  sides,  and 
provided  at  most  with  a  narrow  kyma  along  the  upper  edges, 
it  is  easy  to  account  for  their  entire  dispersion  by  later  build¬ 
ers,  as  well  as  for  the  impossibility  of  identifying  them  among 
fragmentary  remains.  From  a  comparison  with  the  corre¬ 
sponding  members  of  other  Doric  ceilings,  however,  they  may 
be  assumed  to  have  been  about  two  feet  in  width.  In  point 
of  fact,  the  dimension  of  0.615  m.,  including  the  projecting 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


llS 

mouldings,  if  such  existed,  is  found  to  fit  exactly  the  present 
case. 

In  those  beams  referable  to  the  pteroma  and  vestibule  the 
coffers  varied  from  325  to  335  mm.  square,  averaging  33  cm., 
while  the  bridges,  which  separated  them,  varied  from  16  to 
19  cm.,  averaging  a  millimeter  or  so  less  than  17  cm.  Thus 
the  panels  were  almost  exactly  half  a  meter  on  centres. 
The  dimension  of  any  set  of  three  or  more  never  varied 
more  than  one  centimeter  from  the  length  calculated  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  given  mean.  This  difference,  small  as  it  is,  quite 
suffices  to  allow  of  the  slight  adjustment  requisite  in  the  total 
extent  of  the  compartments.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
agreement  of  the  entire  plan  to  the  average  dimensions  of 
the  lacunaria  is  so  striking  as  to  place  the  intention  of  the 
designer,  and  the  restoration  of  the  ceiling,  altogether  beyond 
question. 

The  width  of  the  pteroma  from  entablature  to  wall  is,  as 
before  stated,  2.14  m.  To  ascertain  the  clear  span  of  the 


Fig.  19.  Beam  from  the  Coffered  Ceiling  of  Pteroma. 

(For  Scale,  see  Fig.  20.) 

ceiling  we  have  to  deduct  from  this  twice  the  projection  of 
the  cyma  moulding  upon  the  third  course  of  the  inner  entab¬ 
lature  and  upon  the  wall  plate.  This  dimension  must  have 
been  about  5  cm.  Now,  in  a  compartment  four  coffers  in 
length,  the  four  sinkings  (together,  1.32  m.),  the  three  whole 
and  two  half  bridges  (together,  0.68  m.),  and  the  extra  fifth 
fillet  (0.035  m-)  very  nearly  make  up  the  requisite  2.04  m. 


1  1 6  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE . 

The  width  of  these  compartments  may  be  determined  by  the 
two  coffered  beams  which  were  found  entire.  Their  clear 
span  from  fillet  to  fillet  was,  in  one  case,  1.53  m.  ;  in  the 
other,  1.52  m.  One  of  these  beams  from  the  pteroma  ceiling 
is  shown  in  Figure  19. 

The  number  of  compartments  on  the  sides  and  at  the  rear 
of  the  building  is  at  once  determined  by  the  known  length 
of  beam.  From  the  total  length  of  the  cella  wall  (namely, 
22.33  is  to  be  deducted  the  width  of  the  transverse  inte¬ 
rior  epistyle,  which  divided  the  ceilings  of  the  pteromas  from 
that  of  the  vestibule.  Like  that  of  the  Theseion,  this  lintel 
may  be  assumed  to  have  had  the  same  width  as  the  entab¬ 
lature,  namely,  82  cm.  The  entire  length  of  the  pteroma 
ceilings  upon  the  sides  of  the  building  was,  consequently, 
21.51  m.,  exactly  ten  times  the  width  of  the  compartment 
plus  the  main  beam. 

In  like  manner,  the  ceiling  of  the  rear  pteroma  is  found  to 
have  contained  six  compartments  of  the  same  size,  each  with 
twelve  coffers.  Its  actual  length  of  12.25  m->  when  thus  di¬ 
vided  (duly  omitting  the  non-existent  sixth  beam,  and  sub¬ 
tracting  the  kymas  upon  the  side  entablatures),  shows  the 
compartments  to  have  had  a  mean  width  of  1.5 1  m.  The 
discrepancy  here  observable,  amounting  to  less  than  an  inch, 
is  entirely  negligible  in  a  construction  which,  as  has  been 
seen,  everywhere  displays  much  greater  irregularities  than 
this  in  the  dimensions  of  individual  members. 

In  regard  to  the  details  of  the  construction,  it  can  only  be 
presumed,  from  the  striking  analogy  of  the  Theseion,  that  a 
strong  under-tie,  higher,  but  not  of  greater  width,  than  the 
other  transverse  beams,  was  carried  across  the  sides,  in  the 
line  of  the  rear  wall  of  the  cella. 

As  in  all  other  Doric  temples,  the  beams  were  arranged 
entirely  without  reference  to  the  axes  of  the  supports.  Con- 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


II  7 

trary  as  this  is  to  our  own  statical,  and  too  often  mechanical, 
system  of  design,  it  is  by  no  means  unjustifiable  upon  aesthetic 
considerations.  The  transverse  beams,  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind,  were  situated  more  than  five  feet  above  the  tops  of  the 
columns,  and  the  want  of  agreement  with  these  is  much 
more  apparent  in  the  drawn  plan  (Fig.  22),  than  it  can  have 
been  in  reality. 

The  coffered  beams  which  formed  the  ceiling  above  the 
vestibule  were  longer  than  those  of  the  pteroma,  each  con- 


Fig.  20.  Beam  from  the  Coffered  Ceiling  of  Vestibule. 

taining  five  coffers.  This  is  proved  by  the  remains  of  three 
of  these  stones,  found  among  the  ruins  of  the  lower  town. 
The  first  and  best  preserved,  shown  in  Figure  20,  contains 
four  entire  panels  and  about  half  of  the  fifth, —  only  37  cm.  of 
the  total  length  of  the  block  being  missing.  The  lifting  holes, 
which  will  be  referred  to  hereafter,  were  cut  upon  either  end 
of  the  upper  surface  ;  the  one  remaining  consequently  affords 
no  indication  of  the  original  length  of  the  stone.  But  that 
the  coifer  beams  of  this  series  did  actually  contain  five  panels, 


1 1 8  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 

and  no  more,  is  fully  proved  by  the  second  and  third  speci¬ 
mens  discovered,  both  of  these  showing  a  single  lifting  hole 
cut  in  the  middle  of  the  block,  so  as  to  balance  it  from  a 
single  rope,  and  disposed  exactly  above  the  centre  of  the  third 
sinking.  The  length  of  these  coffer  beams,  thus  determined, 
makes  it  evident  that  the  ceiling  above  the  vestibule  was 
divided  into  four  compartments,  there  consequently  being 
three  beams  of  support  extending  from  the  entablature  of  the 
eastern  front  to  the  entablature  above  the  pronaos  columns. 
These  main  beams,  being  of  so  much  greater  span  than  those 
above  the  pteroma,  would,  a  priori ,  be  supposed  to  have  had 
a  somewhat  greater  thickness.  And  in  fact,  when  we  sub¬ 
tract  from  the  total  length  of  the  vestibule  ceiling,  namely, 
12.25  m->  the  projecting  cymas  upon  the  side  entablatures 
(together  about  10  cm.),  and  the  width  of  four  compartments 
each  containing  five  coffers  of  the  average  size  (4  X  2.535  m.), 
we  find  that  there  remains  to  the  beams  of  support  a  thick¬ 
ness  of  67  cm.  each,  just  that  increase  of  strength  which  the 
greater  span  would  seem  to  require.  It  will  be  observed  that 
the  division  of  the  ceiling  of  the  rear  pteroma  into  eighteen 
coffers  and  five  beams,  and  of  the  equally  long  front  pteroma, 
or  vestibule,  into  twenty  coffers  and. three  beams,  permitted 
this  greater  thickness  to  be  assigned  to  the  supports  of  the 
latter,  the  dimensions  of  two  coffers  with  their  bridges 
being  less  by  about  20  cm.  than  that  of  three  pteroma  beams. 
And  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  choice  of  four  compartments 
in  the  vestibule,  instead  of  six,  was  in  some  measure  influ¬ 
enced  by  this  consideration,  —  certainly  an  extremely  rational 
and  ingenious  method  of  design. 

The  division  of  the  vestibule  ceiling  into  an  even  number 
of  compartments  requires  a  main  beam  above  the  central  in- 
tercolumniation  in  the  longitudinal  axis  of  the  building;  an 
arrangement  which  seems  to  have  been  generally  followed  in 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


1 19 

Greek  architecture,  appearing  in  the  temples  of  Selinous,  the 
Theseion,  the  Parthenon,  the  little  fane  of  Nike  Apteros,  and 
the  temple  of  Bassai.  The  vestibule  ceiling  of  the  temple 
of  Assos  differs,  however,  from  those  of  all  these  temples  in 
the  much  greater  span  of  its  coffered  beams  ;  a  peculiarity 
which  may  have  been  determined  by  the  before  mentioned 
considerations  relative  to  the  thickness  of  the  supports,  or 
may  be  in  part  referable  to  a  desire  to  gain  breadth  of  effect 
by  increasing  the  size  of  the  compartments  in  this  largest 
and  most  important  section  of  the  ceiling. 

The  width  of  the  vestibule  ceiling,  from  the  entablature  of 
the  front  to  that  above  the  pronaos  columns,  was  4.06  m. 
This  agrees  very  accurately  with  the  length  of  the  compart¬ 
ments,  which  is  to  be  computed  from  the  size  of  eight  coffers, 
with  their  seven  whole  and  two  half  bridges,  plus  the  width 
of  the  extra  fillet.  Eight  coffered  beams  consequently  lay  side 
by  side,  making  a  total  of  forty  panels  in  each  compartment. 

The  three  lintels  which  crossed  the  vestibule  must  have 
been  the  longest  stones  employed  in  the  construction  -of  the 
temple.  That  they  could  be  quarried  without  insuperable  dif¬ 
ficulty  is  evident  from  the  existence,  in  the  much  less  carefully 
built  Bouleuterion,  of  monolithic  shafts  of  the  same  material, 
which  exceeded  the  clear  span  requisite  for  these  temple  beams 
by  more  than  two  feet  and  a  half,  being  4.8  m.  long.  Elsewhere 
in  the  lower  town,  among  the  ruins  of  ordinary  dwelling- 
houses,  is  to  be  seen  a  door  lintel  3.7  m.  long.  Nevertheless, 
there  are  many  indications  of  the  care  which  was  taken  to  di¬ 
minish  as  much  as  possible  the  weight  imposed  upon  these 
supports.  The  coffered  beams,  already  relieved  of  fully  one 
eighth  of  their  material  by  the  sinkings,  were  made  as  thin  as 
was  at  all  consistent  with  strength;  and  in  the  case  of  those 
at  the  ends  of  the  compartments  adjoining  the  entablatures, 
the  stone  was  cut  away  from  the  ends  and  outer  edge  of  the 


120 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


upper  side  so  as  to  form  deep  steps.  In  regard  to  the  beams 
of  support,  however,  little  could  be  gained  by  this  latter  ex¬ 
pedient,  which  will  be  readily  understood  from  a  reference  to 
Figure  20.  The  sinkings  of  the  coffers  have  the  boldness  pe¬ 
culiar  to  Doric  ceilings  of  the  best  period,  being  cut  to  a  depth 
of  17  cm.,  more  than  half  as  much  as  their  total  width.  Only 
those  practically  acquainted  with  the  details  of  stone-cutting 
can  understand  how  enormous  a  work  is  involved  in  the  exe¬ 
cution  of  so  deep  a  reveal,  in  so  refractory  a  material.  So 
great  an  expenditure  of  time  and  labor  in  details  so  unosten¬ 
tatious  is  only  to  be  met  with  in  monuments  antedating  that 
debasement  of  the  style  which  may  be  said  to  have  commenced 
immediately  after  the  attainment  of  its  greatest  perfection  in 
the  age  of  Iktinos.  To  illustrate  this  by  Assian  examples, 
the  shallow  coffers  of  the  Prostylos  Temple  at  the  west  of  the 
Path,  or  those  of  the  Tomb  of  Apollonios  in  the  Necropolis, 
differ  as  distinctly  from  the  lacunajia  of  the  temple,  both  as 
regards  design  and  workmanship,  as  do  the  superficial  and 
pretentious  sculptures  of  the  third  century  from  the  archaic 
works  of  the  sixth  century  before  Christ.  It  is  noticeable  that 
in  the  panels  of  the  temple  the  depth  of  the  steps,  both  upper 
and  lower,  is  made  exactly  equal  to  their  width,  including  fillet, 
the  individual  beams  being  thus  conceived  as  square  in  sec¬ 
tion.  Compare  the  detail,  Figure  25.  This  is  the  case  with 
the  small  coffers  of  the  pronaos,  as  well  as  with  those  of  the 
pteroma  and  vestibule.  Throughout  the  ceiling  the  inner 
coffered  beams,  that  is  to  say  those  not  adjoining  the  wall  or 
the  entablature,  were  cut  so  that  each  included,  at  least  upon 
one  of  its  sides,  the  fillet  running  along  the  middle  of  the 
bridge;  the  greatest  possible  width  and  strength  thus  being 
assured  to  those  stones  which  were  supported  only  at  the 
ends.  This  is  evident  from  all  the  fragments  of  outer,  as 
well  as  of  inner  beams,  —  the  former  being  always  without  a 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


121 


fillet,  while  one  of  the  latter  in  each  compartment  has  two 
fillets.  In  this  way  the  junctures  between  the  separate  beams 
were  in  great  measure  concealed,  the  bands  being  slightly 
sunk,  and  without  doubt  painted  up  to  the  edges  with  some 
bright  color. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  fact,  that  in  the 
coffered  beams  of  the  pronaos  ceiling  the  sinkings  and  bridges 
were  made  of  a  much  smaller  size  than  in  those  of  the  pteroma 
and  vestibule,  thus  following  a  principle  of  design  which  is 
evident  also  in  the  panels  of  the  Parthenon.  Several  frag¬ 
ments  of  these  smaller  coffers  were  met  with  in  various  parts 
of  the  town,  one,  in  particular,  being  preserved  from  further 


Fig.  21.  Beam  from  Coffered  Ceiling  of  Pronaos. 
(For  Scale,  see  Fig.  20.) 


injury  by  its  position  in  the  walls  of  the  Mosque.  A  single 
beam  remained  in  its  entire  length,  Figure  21.  The  sinkings, 
215  mm.  square,  were  separated  by  bridges  135  mm.  broad,  with 
fillets  2  cm.  in  width,  —  these  dimensions  being  the  average 
of  all  the  specimens  found.  The  one  entire  beam  contained 
four  coffers,  and  had  a  clear  span  of  1.42  m.  This  makes  it 
probable  that  the  pronaos  ceiling  was  divided  into  three  com¬ 
partments,  the  two  adjoining  the  antae  being  each  four  panels 
in  width,  while  the  central  field  was  square,  and  seven  panels 
in  length.  Assuming  the  transverse  beams  to  have  been  of 
the  same  size  as  those  in  the  pteroma,  or  a  trifle  smaller,  this 
arrangement  would  very  accurately  conform  to  the  given 


122 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


space  :  the  projection  of  two  cyma  mouldings  upon  the  ante 
walls  (together  io  cm  ),  the  two  compartments  of  four  coffers 
(2  X  1.42  m.),  two  beams  of  62  cm.  each,  and  the  central  field 
of  seven  coffers  (2.47  m.)  making  up  the  total  length  of  the 
pronaos,  between  the  antas,  namely,  6.65  m.  The  only  other 
possibility  is  that  there  may  have  been  four  compartments, 
two  of  four,  and  two  of  three  coffers  each ;  but  such  an  ar¬ 
rangement  must  be  regarded  as  extremely  improbable,  on 
account  of  its  irregular  and  awkward  character.  A  square 
central  field,  on  the  other  hand,  must  have  been  of  good 
effect.  The  design  of  the  pronaos  ceiling  would  thereby  be 
brought  into  connection  with  that  of  the  vestibule,  as  the  main 
beams  of  the  former  would  lie  almost  exactly  in  the  axes  of  the 
two  middle  compartments  of  the  latter.  The  triple  division 
would  also  have  been  the  more  economical  from  a  construct¬ 
ive  point  of  view,  only  two  transverse  supports  being  re¬ 
quired.  In  regard  to  the  width  of  the  pronaos  ceiling,  from 
the  entablature  above  the  columns  in  antis  to  the  wall  above 
the  door,  it  is  plain  that  this  must  have  been  occupied  by 
seven  coffered  beams  laid  side  by  side  ;  the  dimension  of  this 

number  of  sinkings  and  bridges  agreeing  very  accurately  with 
the  total  of  2.48  m. 

The  plan  of  the  entire  ceiling,  as  seen  from  below,  is  shown 
in  Figure  22  ;  while  sections  of  the  pteroma  and  of  the  vesti¬ 
bule  and  pronaos  are  given  in  Figures  23  and  24,  drawn  to  a 
uniform  scale  for  the  purpose  of  comparing  the  very  dissimi¬ 
lar  proportions  of  these  spaces.  For  a  representation  of  the 
ceiling  of  the  pteroma  on  a  larger  scale,  see  also  the  section, 
r igure  12,  and  the  isometric  elevation,  Figure  30 

The  arrangement  of  the  coffered  ceiling”  thus  demonstra- 
ble,  is  of  fundamental  importance  in  the  consideration  of  the 
ground  plan  of  the  temple.  It  is  plain,  not  only  that  the  size 
and  number  of  the  compartments  must  have  been  determined 


_  BOOOB 
TL  JpBHOB 

b  a  b  b 

000B 


B  BB  BB 
BBOBH 
B  BO  BB 
BBB0B 


sssao 

0000Q 

OHOBB 

BE1BBQ 


nsnsi 
00000 
00000 
H  BB  BIB 
B  BB  BE' 


Fig.  22.  General  Plan  of  Coffered  Ceiling. 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


I  24 


Fig.  23.  Section  of  Pteroma. 


upon  before  a  single  stone  of  the 
building  could  be  laid,  but  that 
the  design  of  the  panels  must 
have  been  drawn  out,  or  figured, 
by  the  architect  earlier  than  the 
plan  of  the  stylobate.  The  in¬ 
dependent  ceiling  of  the  ves¬ 
tibule  required  the  antae  and 
columns  of  the  pronaos  to  stand 
in  precisely  the  same  transverse 
axis  as  those  columns  of  the  sides 
to  which  they  corresponded,  be¬ 
cause  of  the  epistyle  beam  which 
was  carried  above  them.  And 
the  fact  that,  contrary  to  the 
normal  development  of  the  Do¬ 
ric  plan,  the  pteroma  of  the  rear 


Fig.  24.  Section  of  Vestibule  and  Pronaos. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1S83. 


J25 


was  made  equal  in  width  to  that  of  the  sides,  can  only  be 
explained  by  the  adoption,  in  these  spaces,  of  compartments 
containing  the  same  number  of  coffers.  More  than  this  : 
the  arrangement  of  the  ceiling  must  have  been  determined  at 
the  same  time  as  was  that  simple  system  of  numerical  propor¬ 
tions  which  is  to  be  traced  throughout  the  plan.  The  width 
of  the  compartments  was  so  calculated  as  to  give,  when  taken 
six  and  ten  times  respectively,  the  width  of  the  peripteros 
and  the  length  of  the  cella.  The  factor  is  here  of  such  mag¬ 
nitude,  exceeding  two  meters,  that  it  is  not  possible  to  be 
mistaken  in  the  recognition  of  its  multiples.  The  known 
irregularities  of  the  structure,  amounting  at  most  to  some 
centimeters,  have  scarcely  to  be  taken  into  consideration 
in  this  regard.  An  agreement  of  the  main  dimensions,  so 
exact  as  that  set  forth  in  the  points  in  question,  certainly 
furnishes  a  convincing  proof  of  the  correctness  of  the  recon¬ 
struction. 

In  respect  to  the  constructive  details  of  the  ceiling,  one 
peculiarity  still  requires  attention.  While  —  fortunately  for 
the  proof  of  the  identification  —  some  of  the  coffered  beams 
were  shifted  by  the  same  lever  as  the  stones  of  the  stylobate 
and  entablature,  and  bear  the  rectangular  notches  indicative 
of  that  method,  others  were  attached  to  the  derrick  rope  by 
a  lewis  precisely  like  that  in  use  to-day.  Upon  the  upper 
surface  of  these  latter  is  to  be  seen  the  narrow  slot,  in  sec¬ 
tion  of  inverted  wedge  shape,  peculiar  to  this  form  of  tackle. 
Such  a  lewis-hole  is  shown  in  the  plan  and  top  view  of  the 
vestibule  beam,  Figure  20.  From  a  careful  consideration  of 
the  section  of  these  blocks,  it  appears  that  the  slots  were 
so  disposed  that  the  centre  of  gravity  should  fall  between  25 
and  35  mm.  inside  the  inclined  edge:  this  proving  the  chief 
iron  of  the  lewis  to  have  been  about  6  cm.  in  width  at  its 
narrowest  part,  Figure  25.  As  far  as  it  was  possible  to  as- 


126 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE . 


certain  from  the  fragmentary  material  under  examination,  the 
coffered  beams  of  the  pteroma  and  pronaos  were  invariably 
lifted  by  dogs,  and  only  the  longer  ones,  belonging  to  the 
vestibule,  by  the  lewis.  Certain  it  is,  at  all  events,  that 
lewis-holes  never  appear  upon  those  remains  of  the  former, 

and  dog-holes  never  upon 
those  remains  of  the  latter 
which  could  be  identified 
with  certainty.  Hence  it 
may  be  concluded  that  the 
derricks  erected  above  the 
wide  span  of  the  vestibule 
differed  from  those  em¬ 
ployed  elsewhere  in  the  con¬ 
struction,  —  having  wedge- 
shaped  irons,  instead  of 
crampoons,  for  their  tackle, 
and  being,  without  doubt, 
considerably  lighter  in  the 
wood.  When  possible,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  pteroma, 
the  lifting  apparatus  which  had  been  in  use  for  the  sub¬ 
structure  was  employed  also  for  the  laying  of  the  coffered 
beams.  But  when  a  new  derrick  was  required  by  the  exigen¬ 
cies  of  the  vestibule,  its  form  was  altered  to  suit  the  case. 
The  light  stones  of  the  ceiling  did  not  need  to  be  attached 
to  the  ropes  by  methods  so  strong  and  clumsy  as  the  U- 
shaped  grooves,  or  as  the  deep  slots  observable  upon  the 
massive  cornice  blocks.  Under  these  conditions  the  choice 
of  a  lewis  was  perfectly  natural. 

It  may  be  assumed  that  those  five-coffered  beams  upon 
which  only  one  lewis-hole  was  cut,  and  which  were  conse¬ 
quently  lifted  from  a  single  support,  belonged  to  the  two 


Fig.  25.  Section  of  Vestibule  Ceil¬ 
ing  Beam,  showing  Lewis  Tackle. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


127 


outer  compartments  of  the  vestibule  ceiling,  —  where  the 
erection  of  two  derricks,  one  at  either  end  of  the  beams, 
would  have  been  impossible  on  account  of  the  insufficiency 
of  the  standing  space  afforded  by  the  side  entablatures. 
The  beams  of  the  two  inner  compartments,  on  the  other 
hand,  must  have  been  lifted  and  set  by  the  help  of  two 
derricks,  two  legs  of  each  of  which  rested  upon  the  entab¬ 
lature  above  the  pronaos  columns.  The  employment  of  two 
complete  sets  of  tackle,  hence  to  be  assumed,  is  further  in¬ 
dicated  by  the  fact  that  the  lewis-holes  situated  at  the  ends 
of  the  beams,  such  as  that  shown  in  Figure  20,  were  not  cut 
slanting  towards  a  common  centre,  but  exactly  vertical  to 
the  bed  surface. 

On  the  first  discovery  of  the  coffered  beams  among  the 
ruins  of  Assos,  it  was  thought  that  these  stones  could  not 
be  identified  with  the  temple,  inasmuch  as  the  lewis  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  employed  in  any  other  part  of  the 
structure.  This  view  seemed  to  find  confirmation  in  the 
opinion,  entertained  at  the  time,  that  this  mode  of  lifting, 
so  modern  in  appearance,  necessarily  indicated  a  later  age 
than  that  to  which  the  temple  can  be  assigned.  The  only 
lewis-holes  which  the  writer  had  previously  seen  among 
ancient  remains  were  those  in  the  marble  epistyle  of  the 
Olympieion  at  Athens,  six  centuries  more  recent  than  the 
temple  of  Assos.1  The  first  of  these  objections,  not  in  itself 
unreasonable,  is  fully  met  by  the  above  considerations,  which 
have  on  this  account  been  set  forth  at  length.  And  that  this 
mode  of  lifting  was  known  to  the  Greek  architects  of  the  sixth 
and  fifth  centuries  before  Christ  has  been  proved,  since  the 

1  The  lewis  may  possibly  be  that  lifting-iron  “  the  teeth  of  which  fit  into 
holes  cut  in  the  stone  ”  mentioned  by  Vitruvius  (X.  2.  2).  This,  at  all  events,  is 
the  opinion  of  Piranesi  (Giovanni  Battista),  Le  Antichit'a  Romane,  (Roma,  1756,) 
vol.  iii. 


I  28  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 

commencement  of  the  investigations  at  Assos,  by  the  excava¬ 
tions  at  Olympia,  where,  as  the  writer  can  testify  from  recent 
examination  of  the  remains  in  the  Altis,  lewis-holes  are  to  be 
seen  on  fragments  of  the  oldest  ruins.  Lewis-holes  appear 
also  upon  blocks  of  the  archaic  Doric  temples  a,  r,  d,  and  t, 
of  Selinous.1  It  is  particularly  worthy  of  note  that  the  last 
named  of  these  —  perhaps  the  most  recent  of  the  temples  of 
Selinous,  but  still  erected  in  the  fifth  century  before  Christ  — 
offers  an  example  of  that  very  appearance  of  the  lewis-hole 
and  the  U-shaped  groove,  side  by  side,  which  is  so  remark¬ 
able  in  the  temple  of  Assos.  So  far,  indeed  from  being  an 
invention  of  the  Diadochi,  it  can  be  shown  that  the  lewis 
was  in  common  use  among  the  Egyptians,2 —  those  earliest 
teachers  of  the  Greeks  in  all  that  appertains  to  the  working 
of  stone. 

The  arrangement  of  the  temple  roof  is  clear  in  its  main 
features,  more  or  less  complete  remains  having  been  found 
of  the  terra-cotta  bands,  antefixes,  tiles,  and  gutter,  and  of 
the  stone  acroteria.  But  as  this  part  of  the  building  was 
evidently  subject  to  frequent  repairs,  and  even  extensive 
restorations,  there  is  uncertainty  in  regard  to  some  details 
of  its  construction. 

The  upper  surfaces  of  the  corona  blocks  of  the  sides  are 
regularly  tooled  to  a  slope  somewhat  less  than  that  of  the 
roof  for  a  space  of  about  half  a  meter  from  the  outer  edge. 
The  ends  of  the  rafters  rested  upon  the  horizontal  bed  behind 
this  projection,  all  downward  pressure  upon  the  projecting 
portion  of  the  corona  being  thus  avoided.  The  imbrices,  lying 

1  Hittorff  and  Zanth,  Architecture  Antique  de  la  Sidle,  2d  ed.,  (Paris,  1870,) 
Books  3,  4,  5,  and  8,  Plates  16,  44,  47,  and  89. 

2  Representations  of  the  lewis  appear  among  the  sculptures  in  the  sandstone 
quarries  of  Silsilis.  Compare  Long  (George),  Egyptian  Antiquities,  vol.  i.  (Lon¬ 
don,  1832,)  or  other  books  upon  Egyptian  remains. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


I  29 


directly  upon  the  rafters,  must  in  the  lowest  course  have 
overlapped  the  stone  so  far  as  effectually  to  have  prevented 
water  from  penetrating  to  the  interior.  Along  the  sloping 
upper  surface  of  the  cornice,  at  a  distance  of  18  cm.  from 
the  front,  there  is  cut  a  groove,  from  two  to  four  centimeters 
deep,  the  purpose  of  which  was  evidently  to  hold  the  bent 
inner  edge  of  a  course  of  ornamental  tiles,  interposed  be¬ 
tween  the  cornice  and  the  terra-cotta  antefixes.  A  single 
fragment  of  this  original  course,  now  in  the  Museum  at  Bos¬ 
ton  (P.  4258),  was  found  upon  the  site  of  the  temple  during 
the  digging  of  the  second  year  (Fig.  26).  It  is  of  dark  gray 
clay,  primed  with  black,  is  54  mm.  thick,  and  bears  in  relief 
the  lines  of  a  meander 
ornament.  During  a  res¬ 
toration  of  the  roof,  which 
appears  to  have  been  made 
at  least  two  centuries  af¬ 
ter  the  completion  of  the 
building,  this  moulding 
was  replaced  by  a  band 
of  terra-cotta,  of  about  the 
same  thickness,  but  of  an 
entirely  different  material, 
much  more  porous  and 
lighter  in  color.  The  peculiarity  of  this  band  is  that  only 
those  parts  of  its  edge  which  were  situated  immediately  be¬ 
neath  the  antefixes  were  ornamented,  these  sections,  exactly 
as  long  as  the  original  antefixes  were  wide,  having  a  wave 
pattern,  of  the  usual  Greek  type,  but  quite  foreign  to  the 
Doric  grammar  of  ornament. 

The  discovery  of  one  of  the  painted  antefixes  of  the  temple, 
Figure  27,  was  mentioned  in  the  First  Report.1  This  fine 

1  Preliminary  Report ,  p.  96. 

9 


Fig.  26.  Fragment  of  Tile,  with  or¬ 
namented  Edge,  from  a  Course  in¬ 
terposed  BETWEEN  LOWEST  IMBRICES 
and  Corona. 


/ 


130 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


specimen  of  archaic  Doric  terra-cotta,  now  in  the  Museum  at 
Boston,  No.  4149,  is  remarkable  for  the  richness  of  the  colors, 
deep  red  and  black,  still  to  be  seen  upon  it.  It  is  formed  of  a 
coarse  and  porous  kernel,  coated  with  a  priming  of  fine  clay  and 
powdered  flint,  technically  known  as  a  slip,  the  oxide  of  iron 


Fig.  27.  Antefix.  —  From  a  Photograph. 


contained  in  which  gives  to  the  surface  its  delicate  reddish 
fawn  tint.  The  inner  mass  contains  numerous  crystals  of  the 
andesite  of  Assos,  which  is  thus  seen  to  have  been  employed 
by  the  local  potters  in  the  same  way  as  was  crushed  granite 
and  quartz  in  those  specimens  of  terra-cotta  from  the  North¬ 
ern  Troad  analyzed  by  Dr.  Landerer.1  The  principle  of  an 

1  Landerer,  in  Schliemann’s  Ilios,  p.  218. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


131 


anathyrosis  jointing,  so  consequentially  carried  out  in  all  the 
stone-work  of  the  structure,  appears  even  in  the  antefixes, 
which  were  moulded  with  a  slight  projection  along  the  edge 
of  the  bed  surface.  Compare  the  section,  Figure  28.  In  view 
of  the  tendency  of  terra-cotta  to  warp  in  the 
baking,  this  precaution  must  here  have  been 
of  particularly  good  effect,  inasmuch  as  these 
narrow  rims  could  easily  be  filed  to  an  exact 
plane.  Each  of  the  antefixes  was  attached 
to  the  cornice  by  two  circular  dowels 
of  iron,  about  1  cm.  in  diameter,  these 
evidently  having  been  carried  through 
the  intervening  plates  of  terra¬ 
cotta.  The  holes  in  which  these 
pins  were  inserted  were 
neatly  bored  to  a  depth  of 
not  less  than  7  cm.  Their 
positions  upon  the  upper 
surfaces  of  the  cornice 
blocks  show  the  antefixes 
to  have  been  spaced  at  a 
distance  averaging  be¬ 
tween  63  and  64  cm.  from 
centre  to  centre,  and  thus 
consequently  to  have  been 
arranged  without  the 
slightest  reference  to  the  mutules  beneath  them. 

The  roofing  of  Doric  temples  seems  always  to  have  been 
constructed  without  purlins  or  cross  slats,  —  the  tiles  lying 
directly  upon  the  inclined  timbers.  The  spacing  of  the  ante¬ 
fixes  consequently  determines  also  the  distance  of  the  rafters 
from  centre  to  centre,  and  the  total  width  of  the  imbrices. 
There  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  these  latter  were  intended 


Fig.  28.  Antefix  Section. 


I32 


ARCHsEOL OGICA L  INSTITUTE. 


to  be  exactly  two  Greek  feet  in  width,  —  that  is  to  say,  of  a 
dimension  commonly  employed  in  all  parts  of  the  ancient 
world.1  The  flat  tile  shown  upon  the  sculptured  slab  which 
was  set  up  in  the  market-place  of  Assos  as  the  official  standard, 
has  precisely  this  width  of  63!  cm.  with  a  length  of  71  Jem. 
It  is  not  possible  to  ascertain  the  exact  age  of  this  interesting 
gauge,  which  will  be  described  in  detail  hereafter,  but  it  is 
evident  that  either  the  slab  is  as  old  as  the  building  of  the 
temple  itself,  or  that  the  size  of  roofing  tiles  common  at  the 
beginning  of  the  fifth  century  before  Christ  was  retained  until 
the  period  when  this  official  standard  was  sculptured. 

No  remains  of  tegulse  belonging  to  the  temple  were  found 
in  a  state  of  preservation  sufficient  to  show  their  dimensions, 
or  their  exact  shape.  It  is  only  certain  that  they  were  of 
angular  section,  like  that  sculptured  upon  the  standard,  from 
which  they  cannot  have  materially  differed  in  width. 

The  fragments  of  three  imbrices  belonging  to  the  temple  — 
the  only  ones  referable  with  certainty  to  that  structure  — 
form  part  of  the  collection  in  the  Museum  at  Boston,  P.  4175, 
4180,  4186.  All  these  are  of  a  coarse-grained  terra-cotta, 
coated  with  a  lustrous  black  glaze.  No  two  are  precisely 
alike.  The  side  lips  of  the  first  and  third  are  of  a  curved 
section  at  the  juncture  with  the  body,  like  that  shown  by  the 
standard,  while  the  lip  of  the  second  is  sharply  angular.  The 
material  of  the  third  also  differs  from  that  of  the  others  in 
being  of  a  yellow  color,  and  having  a  tinge  of  purple  in  the 
glaze.  The  varieties  of  contemporary  manufacture,  and  of 
the  tiles  employed  in  the  slight  repairs  so  frequently  neces¬ 
sary,  quite  suffice  to  account  for  these  differences,  which  can 
scarcely  warrant  the  assumption  of  so  many  complete  resto¬ 
rations  of  the  roofing.  As  no  notches  were  moulded  upon 

1  Dorpfeld,  Graber,  Borrmann,  und  Siebold,  Ueber  die  Verwendung  von  Terra- 
cotten  am  Geiscm  und  Dache  griechischer  Bauwerke.  Berlin,  1881. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


133 


Fig.  29.  Corners  of  Imbrices,  roughly 
cut  for  Jointing. 


the  corners  of  these  imbrices  to  receive  the  ends  of  those 
in  the  courses  above  or  below  them,  the  jointing  was  rudely 
effected  by  cutting  off  the  angles  on  the  inner  edge  of  the 
upper  and  outer  edge  of  the  outer  lip,  so  as  to  form  a  tri¬ 
angular  base  (Fig.  29). 

This  clumsy  makeshift 
is  visible  upon  the  spe¬ 
cimens  numbered  4175 
and  4180. 

The  constructive  sys¬ 
tem  of  the  temple  thus 
far  considered  is  shown 
in  Fig.  30.  The  gable  ends  of  the  building  were  provided  with 
gutters,  in  order  altogether  to  prevent,  above  the  entrance, 
that  dripping  which  was  not  considered  objectionable  upon 
the  sides.  At  the  time  of  writing  the  First  Report,  the  mere 
fact  of  the  existence  of  such  a  gutter  was  evident  from  the  gar¬ 
goyle  brought  to  light  during  the  digging  of  the  first  year.  In 
the  restoration  of  the  temple  which  is  figured  in  that  volume,1 
this  moulding  was  represented  as  an  anthemion  band,  —  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  analogy  of  other  Doric  temples,  which  show  the 
crowning  member  to  have  been  ornamented  in  the  same  fash¬ 
ion  as  coronets,  such  as  that  worn  by  the  Juno  Ludovisi.  The 
correctness  of  this  restoration  was  confirmed  during  the  second 
year  by  the  discovery  of  a  portion  of  the  original  sima,  now 
in  the  Museum  at  Boston,  P.  4152.  This  important  fragment. 
Fig.  31,  is  formed  of  a  kernel  of  coarse  and  exceedingly  hard 
terra-cotta,  coated  upon  the  face  with  a  slip  of  fine  clay,  in 
which  the  details  of  the  ornament  —  an  archaic  astragal  and 
anthemion  —  are  carefully  moulded  in  high  relief,  projecting 
11  mm.  from  the  background.  (Compare  the  section,  Fig.  32.) 
Traces  of  a  dark  red  glaze  are  still  visible  upon  the  diamond, 


1  Preliminary  Report ,  pi.  14. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


I  35 


while  the  slip  itself  is  of  a  light  red  tint.  The  inner  side  is 
primed  with  a  hard  stucco,  2  mm.  thick,  of  a  yellowish  color. 
The  thickness  of  the  upright 
body  is  3  cm.,  that  of  the  base 
something  over  4  cm.  The 
separate  lengths  were  attached 
to  the  upper  surfaces  of  the 
tympanon  corona  by  iron  pins, 
the  distance  between  which  in 
the  single  instance  capable  of 
measurement  was  53  cm.  It 
will  be  remarked  that  the  pro¬ 
file  of  the  gutter  is  perfectly 
straight-lined,  having1  nothing 
of  the  vigorous  and  graceful 
curve  which  characterizes  the 
simas  of  the  perfected  style. 

The  small  amount  of  water  col¬ 
lected  by  these  gutters  was  dis¬ 
charged  through  four  gargoyles  at 
the  corners  of  the  building.  One. 
of  the  fine  lion’s  heads  of  volcanic 
tufa  which  performed  this  function 
was  found  during  the  first  year,  and 
has  been  fully  described  and  illus¬ 
trated.1  It  is  now  preserved  in  the 
Museum  at  Boston,  S.  1162. 

Fragments  of  the  acroteria  were 
found  sufficient  to  convey  an  under¬ 
standing  of  the  nature  of  these  prom¬ 
inent  ornaments,  although  not  to 
permit  of  a  complete  restoration. 

1  Preliminary  Report ,  p.  94,  pi.  12. 


Fig.  32.  Fragment  of  Gut¬ 
ter. —  Section  and  Scale. 


Fig.  31.  Fragment  of  Gutter. 
From  a  Photograph. 


1 36 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Fig.  33.  Fragment  of  Ridge  Acroterion. 


The  ridge  acroterion  is  represented  by  a  block  of  the  same  vol¬ 
canic  tufa  employed  for  the  gargoyles,  having  a  regular  thickness 
of  18  cm.,  and  cut  to  the  form  of  a  scroll  (Fig.  33).  The  inner 
convolutions  are  indicated  by  rectangular  incisions,  about  8  mm. 
broad,  which  deepen  as  they  retreat  from  the  centre,  varying 
from  a  shallow  notch  to  a  cut  fully  5  cm.  deep.  The  spiral 
line  thus  varies  in  appearance  from  a  light  gray  to  a  perfectly 

black  shadow.  The 
circular  perforation 
in  the  centre  of  the 
volute,  correspond¬ 
ing  to  the  ocf)6aX/u,6 9 
of  the  Ionic  capi¬ 
tal,  is  cut  completely 
through  the  stone, 
and  probably  served 
for  the  insertion  of 
disks  of  some  more  brilliant  material,  such  as  colored  glass 
or  gilded  metal.  A  branch  is  thrown  off  from  the  scroll  at 
a  point  situated  one  entire  revolution  from  its  inner  termina¬ 
tion,  the  juncture  being  marked  by  four  narrow  lines,  nearly 
parallel,  incised  across  the  volute.  The  treatment  is  the  same 
upon  both  sides  of  the  slab. 

It  is  plain  that  we  have  here  to  deal  with  the  upper  scroll 
of  a  central  acroterion,  closely  resembling  that  of  the  temple 
of  Aigina,  now  in  the  Glyptothek  of  Munich.  Remains  of  a 
similar  kind  have  also  been  found  among  the  overthrown 
stones  of  the  Parthenon ;  and,  taking  these  facts  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  representations  of  archaic  temples  upon  vases, 
gems,  etc.,  there  is  good  ground  for  the  belief  that  a  monu¬ 
mental  anthemion,  de'conpe  from  a  slab  of  equal  thickness,  was 
regarded  as  the  normal  decoration  of  the  apex  of  Doric  gables. 
The  sky  line  of  the  building  was  thus  emphasized  at  its  most 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


137 


salient  point  by  an  ornament  having  the  forms  which  appear 
in  the  terminations  of  sacred  steles,  and  frankly  treated  in 
profile  alone. 

In  technical  respects  the  fragment  closely  resembles  the 
Proto-Ionic  capital  discovered  by  the  writer  upon  the  site  of 
Neandreia,  in  the  Troad.1  The  material  is  the  same,  and 
seems  to  have  been  employed  at  no  other  period  by  the  Greek 
builders  of  this  country.  The  surfaces  are  dressed  with  a  fine 
brush-hammer  of  the  same  kind.  In  both  cases  the  scrolls 
seem  to  have  been  laid  out  by  unwinding  a  cord,  to  the  free 
end  of  which  was  attached  a  chisel-point,  from  a  cylinder  fixed 
in  the  centre  of  the  scroll  as  an  involute,  —  the  ophthalmos , 
perhaps  for  this  purpose,  having  been  cut  entirely  through 
the  stone.  Above  ally  the  spiral  lines  are  in  both  indicated 
by  peculiar  incisions  of  rectangular  section,  varying  in  depth 
from  a  slight  sinking  to  a  cutting  nearly  equal  to  one  third 
the  thickness  of  the  stone.  In  short,  the  workmanship  is 
that  of  one  and  the  same  school  of  masonry,  and  is  to  be  re¬ 
ferred  to  about  the  same  period  of  artistic  development,  — 
a  fact  which  will  be  re¬ 
ferred  to  in  the  discussion 
of  the  age  of  the  temple. 

Of  the  corner  acrote- 
ria,  the  single  fragment 
brought  to  light  was  the 
fore  paw  of  a  sphinx  or 
griffin,  standing  upon  a 
portion  of  the  base  by 
which  the  figure  was 

attached  to  the  end  of  ^ 

Fig.  34.  Fragment  of  Acroterion.  Paw 

the  sima,  above  the  gar-  OF  Sphinx  or  Griffin. 

1  Clarke  (Joseph  Thacher),  A  Proto-Ionic  Capital  from  the  Site  of  Neandreia. 
Baltimore,  1886.  Reprint  from  the  American  Journal  of  Archceology,  vol.  ii.  p.  1. 


I  og  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 

\J 

goyle  (Fig.  34).  The  stone  is  now  in  the  Museum  at  Boston, 
S.  1105.  The  carving  of  the  paw  displays  that  mastery  in  the 
rendering  of  animal  forms  which  is  so  evident  in  all  the  sculp¬ 
tures  of  the  temple  ;  and  it  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  noth¬ 
ing  remains  of  the  body,  which  would  have  been  especially 
interesting  as  an  example  of  the  work  of  the  sculptors  of 
Assos  in  the  full  round. 

It  will  be  remarked,  that  in  the  choice  of  subjects  for  the 
corner,  as  well  as  for  the  central  acroteria,  the  temple  of 
Assos  agrees  with  that  of  Aigina.  But  in  Assos  there  was 
particular  reason  for  the  representation  of  the  sphinx  or 
griffin  in  connection  with  the  fane  of  Athena  Polias,  one 
or  the  other  of  these  animals  having  formed  the  heraldic 
symbol  of  the  city. 

The  corner  acroterion,  like  the  central  scroll,  the  lion’s 
head,  and  the  before  mentioned  Proto-Ionic  capital  from  Nean- 
dreia,  is  carved  of  a  fine-grained  tufa,  obtained  from  quarries 
in  various  parts  of  the  Southern  Troad.  This  stone,  though 
stratified  by  the  action  of  water,  is  of  the  same  volcanic  for¬ 
mation  as  the  andesite  of  which  the  temple  is  constructed. 
But  it  is  much  softer  and  more  easily  worked,  and  was  there¬ 
fore  better  adapted  to  the  requirements  of  the  earliest  Greek 
stone-cutters.  So  far  as  the  writer  is  aware,  tufa  is  never 
found  among  remains  of  a  later  date  than  the  first  half  of 
the  fifth  century  before  Christ.  It  thus  bears  the  same  rela¬ 
tion  to  the  archaic  architecture  of  the  Troad  as  poros  does 
to  that  of  the  Peloponnesos  and  Sicily.  As  poros  because  of 
its  coarseness,  so  tufa  seems  to  have  been  discarded  by  the 
masons  of  later  ages  on  account  of  its  friability.  This  was 
not  wise  ;  for,  though  crumbled  by  a  blow,  the  resistance 
of  this  stone  to  the  disintegrating  effects  of  the  weather  is 
far  greater  than  that  of  the  andesite.  The  forms  of  the 
lion’s  head  and  the  delicate  fillets  of  the  Proto-Ionic  capital 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


I  39 


retain  a  sharpness  unequalled  in  the  sculptures  or  architec¬ 
tural  details  executed  in  other  materials. 

A  most  careful  search  was  made  for  materials  which  might 
serve  to  prove  the  existence  of  any  aperture  in  the  roof  of  the 
building  for  the  purpose  of  admitting  light  to  the  interior. 
But  nothing  was  found  which  could  possibly  be  brought  into 
connection  with  such  a  feature. 

All  the  dimensions  of  the  temple  were  remeasured  at  the 
close  of  the  excavations,  and  the  averages  of  those  members 
which  show  perceptible  variations  were  recalculated.  The 
final  results  are  given  in  the  following  table  :  — 

Meters. 

Length  of  lower  step . 30.86 

Breadth  of  lower  step . 14.58 

Tread  of  lower  step . 0-27! 

Length  of  stylobate . 30.31 

Breadth  of  stylobate . 14*03 

Exterior  of  cella,  length . 22.33 

“  “  breadth . 7.97 

Walls  of  cella  and  antse,  thickness . o .66 

Door  of  naos,  breadth  of  opening . 1.65 

Interior  of  naos,  length . 17.71 

“  “  breadth . 6.65 

Ante  walls,  length . 3.30 

Total  width  of  vestibule,  before  ante . 4.95 

“  “  pteroma,  sides  and  rear . 3.03 

Columns  on  centres,  sides,  average . 2.45 

“  “  front,  average . 2.61 

Lower  diameter  of  shaft,  average . 0.91^ 

Upper  diameter  of  shaft,  average . 0.64 

Height  of  steps,  each . 0.28 

“  column,  calculated . 4.78 

“  shaft,  calculated . 4.3 

“  capital,  average . 0.48 

“  epistyle . 0.82 


140 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Meters. 


Height  of  frieze . 0.78 

“  cornice . 0.42 


Total  height  of  order,1  including  steps,  calculated  .  .  7.36 

Thickness  of  entablature  (epistyle) . 0.82 

Dimensions  of  coffered  ceiling,  vestibule  .  .  4.06  X  12.25 

“  “  “  sides  .  .  .  2.14  X  21.51 

“  “  “  rear  .  .  .  2.14  X  12.25 

“  “  “  pronaos  .  .  2.48  X  6.65 

Angle  of  gable  slope . 15° 

The  remeasurement  led  to  the  conviction  that  it  is  not 
practicable  to  express  the  general  dimensions  of  an  edifice 
constructed  of  so  rough  a  material  as  the  Assos  andesite  in 
units  smaller  than  half  a  centimeter. 

On  comparing  these  figures  with  those  given  in  the  First 
Report,2  slight  corrections  will  be  remarked.  These  have  be¬ 
come  necessary,  partly  through  the  greater  number  of  meas¬ 
urements  which  have  gone  to  make  up  the  averages,  and 
partly  through  the  comparison  of  the  steel  tape  used  by  the 
expedition  with  an  accurate  standard,  —  a  task  kindly  under¬ 
taken  by  Professor  William  A.  Rogers,  of  Cambridge,  Mass. 
Attention  has  already  been  called  to  the  fact,  that  throughout 
the  structure  the  dimensions  exhibited  variations  greater 
than  those  of  any  other  Greek  temple  with  which  the  writer 
is  acquainted.  The  above  table  in  all  cases  states  the  aver¬ 
age  computed  from  every  recognizable  block.  The  labor  in¬ 
volved  in  its  preparation  may  be  judged  from  the  fact,  that 
in  the  case  of  the  columns  alone  more  than  one  thousand 
measurements  were  taken  with  rod  and  tape. 

1  In  an  anonymous  review  of  the  First  Report ,  published  in  the  American 
Architect,  Boston,  1882,  it  was  asserted  that  the  height  of  the  order  does  not 
agree  with  the  total  obtained  by  adding  together  the  dimensions  of  the  steps, 
column,  and  entablature.  The  critic,  however,  omitted  to  include  the  lower 
step  in  his  computation.  His  total  of  7.08  m.  increased  by  the  neglected  figure 
gives  the  7.36  m.  of  the  original  table,  here  repeated. 

2  Preliminary  Report,  p.  96. 


CHAPTER  III. 


TEMPLE  SCULPTURES. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  during  the  first 

year  of  the  work  at  Assos  the  plan  of  the  temple  had 
been  entirely  laid  bare,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  rude 
mediaeval  fortifications  which  surrounded  the  upper  citadel 
examined,  hopes  were  still  entertained  that  additional  reliefs 
might  be  brought  to  light  by  further  digging  in  this  vicinity. 
The  eleven  fragments  of  the  sculptured  epistyle  which  had 
been  already  found  constituted  one  of  the  most  valuable  re¬ 
sults  of  the  undertaking,  and  nothing  was  to  be  left  undone 
from  which  an  extension  of  this  series  could  be  expected. 
A  thorough  search  was  consequently  made  upon  all  parts  of 
the  Acropolis  during  the  early  months  of  the  second  year,  as 
has  been  related  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  present  volume. 
The  faces  of  all  walls  known  to  have  been  built  after  the 
temple  was  overthrown  were  exposed  to  their  lowest  courses, 
while  those  masses  of  masonry  which  were  of  sufficient  thick¬ 
ness  to  hide  sculptured  blocks  between  scarp  and  counter¬ 
scarp  were  broken  up  with  wedge  and  hammer.  The  great 
square  tower  adjacent  to  the  mosque  was  found  to  contain 
no  recognizable  stones  of  the  temple  whatever,  while  the 
sphinxes  from  the  eastern  facade  proved  to  be  the  only  work 
of  sculpture  embedded  in  those  masses  of  rubble  and  mor¬ 
tar  which  protected  the  uppermost  step  of  the  Acropolis 
upon  the  northeast.  But  in  the  most  recent  of  the  fortifi- 


142 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


cation  walls,  hastily  piled  up  of  large  stones  without  mortar, 
namely,  those  at  the  south  of  the  temple  site,  several  epistyle 
blocks  were  discovered,  one  of  them  sculptured.  A  block 
showing  the  body  of  one  of  the  sphinxes  from  the  western 
front  of  the  temple  was  found,  face  downwards,  upon  the  sur¬ 
face  of  the  earth,  outside  the  citadel  gate.  In  short,  five  fur¬ 
ther  fragments  of  the  temple  reliefs  were  discovered  during 
the  work  of  the  second  year.  Three  of  these  form  an  entire 
lintel,  with  a  representation  of  horse-legged  centaurs;  one 
completes  the  heraldic  sphinxes  from  the  western  front ;  and 
the  last,  a  part  of  a  new  metope,  shows  the  hind  legs  of  a 
galloping  centaur.  Meagre  as  these  results  appear  in  them¬ 
selves,  they  are  yet  of  scientific  importance,  as  throwing  new 
light  upon  the  significance  and  arrangement  of  the  sculptures 
previously  known.  The  total  count  of  the  fragments  discov¬ 
ered  by  the  expedition  is  thus  brought  up  to  sixteen, — within 
one  of  the  number  of  those  removed  to  the  Louvre  in  1838.1 
The  pieces  in  the  Louvre  represent  thirteen  separate  reliefs  ; 
those  found  by  excavation,  ten. 

The  largest  and  most  important  of  the  newly  found  sculp¬ 
tures  (Fig.  35)  represents  four  centaurs,2  galloping,  with  up¬ 
lifted  fore  feet  and  outstretched  arms.  The  design  is  frankly 

1  Clarac  ( Musee ,  vol.  ii.  part  ii.)  repeatedly  refers  to  the  fragments  of  sculp¬ 
tures  removed  from  Assos  to  Paris  as  seventeen  in  number.  But  if  we  consider 
the  relief  of  the  Banquet  to  be  composed  of  four  separate  pieces,  the  total 
number  of  fragments  would  be  eighteen. 

s2  The  archaeological  literature  upon  the  subject  of  centaurs  is  extensive. 
The  chief  authorities  in  regard  to  it  are  referred  to  by  Colvin  (Sidney)  in  his 
Representations  of  Centaurs  in  Greek  Vase  Painting ,  Journal  of  Hellenic  Studies, 
vol.  i.,  London,  1880.  But  although  he  goes  as  far  back  as  Bochart  (Samuel), 
Hierozoicon,  sive  de  Animalibus  Sacrce  Scriptures,  Londini,  1663,  and  Bachet  (Claude 
Gaspar),  Commentaires  sur  les  Epitres  d'Ovide,  La  Haye,  1716,  his  list  is  far  from 
complete.  The  most  thorough  and  learned  contributions  to  the  subject  in  recent 
years  have  certainly  been  those  of  Stephani  (Ludolf),  in  the  Compte  Rendu  de  la 
Commission  Imperiale  d’Archeologie  de  St.  Petersbourg,  1865  and  1873. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


143 


decorative,  the  differences  in  position  being  so  slight  that 
the  monsters,  placed  as  they  were  in  an  architectural  frame¬ 
work,  and  at  some  height  above  the  eye,  must  at  the  first 
glance  have  appeared  almost  like  repetitions  of  a  convention¬ 
alized  ornament.  The  bodies,  entirely  similar  in  outline,  are, 
like  the  heads,  shown  exactly  in  profile  ;  yet,  in  a  childlike 
striving  after  clearness  of  representation,  the  front  legs  of 
each  centaur  are  placed  before,  while  the  hind  legs  are  be¬ 
hind,  those  of  the  individuals  which  they  adjoin.  The  pattern¬ 
like  effect  of  the  composition  is  greatly  augmented  by  this 
overlapping.  With  a  single  exception,  the  arms  are  held 
out  at  length  ;  the  thumbs  of  the  left  hand  all  point  up¬ 
wards,  the  thumbs  of  the  right  downwards.  The  right  and 
left  legs  are  precisely  'parallel,  being,  as  it  were,  shown  in 
perspective.  The  tails,  made  prominent  in  the  relief  by  too 
great  a  projection  from  the  background,  fall  in  the  same 
curve,  nearly  to  the  ground. 

The  third  centaur  roars,  open-mouthed,  with  a  peculiarly 
nai've  and  archaic  expression.  He  alone  has  bent  one  of  his 
arms,  as  if  carrying  a  club  or  stone ;  yet  nothing  is  grasped 
in  his  clenched  fist. 

The  body  of  the  second  centaur  has  been  split  off  with 
clean  fracture.  Otherwise  the  preservation  of  the  relief  is 
excellent,  —  much  superior,  for  instance,  to  that  of  the  frag¬ 
mentary  and  weathered  centaur-blocks  which  have  been  re¬ 
moved  to  Paris.  Coarse  as  the  stone  is,  the  fillets  around 
the  heads,  the  twisted  curls  of  the  hair  and  beards,  and  the 
outstretched  fingers,  are  quite  distinct.  It  will  be  shown, 
in  a  subsequent  discussion  of  the  arrangement  of  the 
sculptured  lintels,  that  this  block  was  probably  situated 
upon  the  main  facade,  above  the  second  intercolumniation 
from  the  southeastern  corner,  and  adjoining  that  relief  — 
discovered  by  the  expedition  during  the  first  year  —  which 


144 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


represents  Herakles  in  combat  with  the  centaurs  who  had 
fallen  upon  him  in  the  cave  of  Pholos,1  presently  to  be  re¬ 
ferred  to.  There  can  hence  be  no  doubt  in  regard  to  the 
action  in  which  these  four  centaurs  take  part :  they  are  flee¬ 
ing  from  the  arrows  of  the  hero.2  Their  precipitous  haste 
is  well  expressed  by  the  arms  flung  into  the  air,  and  by 
the  position  of  the  heads  ;  the  foremost  three  of  which  are 
stretched  forwards  in  headlong  flight,  while  the  last  is  turned 

1  Some  account  of  this  myth  was  given  in  the  First  Report,  p.  107 ;  but  the 
passages  of  the  ancient  authors  referring  to  it  were  not  there  cited.  Those 
known  to  the  present  writer  are  as  follows.  The  story  of  Herakles  and  Pholos 
is  not  mentioned  in  the  Iliad  or  Odyssey,  though  evidently  referred  to  in  the 
pseudo-Homeric  Kapivos  3)  Repays,  18.  There  is,  however,  reason  to  suppose 
that  it  was  included  in  the  narratives  of  the  epic  poets  and  chroniclers  of  the 
seventh  and  sixth  centuries  before  Christ,  —  notably  in  those  of  Peisandros  of 
Kameiros,  Panyasis,  and  Herodoros  the  Pontian.  Quintus  of  Smyrna  (Rostkom., 

VI.  273,  and  VII.  107),  imitating  the  manner  of  Homer,  towards  the  close  of  the 
fourth  century  of  our  era,  is  without  doubt  following  an  ancient  epic  prototype 
when  he  describes  the  labors  of  Plerakles  wrought  in  relief  upon  the  shield  of 
Eurypylos,  and  among  them  the  combat  of  the  hero  with  the  centaurs  of  Mount 
Pholoe,  “when  wine  and  the  spirit  of  strife  stirred  up  these  monsters  to  fight 
against  him  in  the  house  of  Pholos.”  A  passage  of  Stesichoros,  preserved  by 
Athenaios,  XI.  499  B,  is  the  most  ancient  reference  which  has  been  handed  down 
to  us.  It  will  be  quoted  in  a  subsequent  passage  of  the  text.  Among  the  Attic 
tragedians  this  exploit  of  Herakles  is  referred  to  by  Sophokles  ( Trachin .,  1095) 
and  Euripides  [Here.  Fur.,  181,  364,  1272).  We  learn  from  Eustratios  (Com¬ 
mentary  to  Aristotle,  Etk.  Nicom.,  III.  5,  ed.  Camerarius,  Francofurti,  1578, 
p.  126)  that  one  of  the  comedies  of  Epicharmos  was  entitled  'Hpa/cAr/s  6  napa 
$6\cp.  The  story  is  alluded  to  also  by  Aristophanes  {Frogs,  38,  and  the  scho¬ 
liast),  and  told  at  considerable  length  by  Apollodoros  (II.  5.  4),  Diodoros  (IV. 
12.  3-6),  and  Tzetzes  (Ckil.,  V.  111-137),  who  are  our  chief  authorities  for  the 
details  of  the  exploit.  Other  references  are  to  be  found  in  Theokritos  {Idyll., 

VII.  149),  Lykophron  {Alex.,  670,  with  the  commentary  of  Tzetzes),  Ptolemy 
{Nov.  Hist.,  V.,  ed.  Westermann,  p.  192),  Lucian  (Jup.  Tragoed.,  21),  Orpheus 
{Argon.,  410),  Philostratos  the  Lemnian  {Imag.,  XVI.),  Polyainos  ( Strateg .,  I. 
3.  1),  Stephanos  of  Byzantion  (p.  670,  ed.  Meineke).  Further,  among  the  Ro¬ 
mans,  Virgil  (Am.,  VIII.  294,  with  the  commentary  of  Servius,  and  Georg.,  II. 
456)>  Juvenal  (Sat.,  XII.  45),  and  Lucan  ( Pharsal .,  VI.  3S8,  391). 

2  The  French  authorities  attached  a  much  less  tragic  significance  to  the  two 
reliefs  of  centaurs,  belonging  to  this  representation,  which  were  removed  from 
Assos  to  the  Louvre.  The  clubs  and  stones  with  which  the  devoted  combatants 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


145 


backwards,  in  full  profile,  to  cast  a  glance  of  terror  at  the 
pursuer. 

In  point  of  style  this  block  presents  a  marked  contrast  to 
its  more  archaic  neighbor.  The  most  striking  difference  is 
that  —  while  the  centaurs  upon  the  corner  block  are  repre¬ 
sented  in  that  primitive  combination  of  man  and  beast  in 
which  an  entire  and  perfect  human  being  is  joined  to  the 
trunk  and  hind  legs  of  a  horse,  the  front  legs  being  human  — 
in  this  relief  the  centaurs  show  the  improved  form  of  the 
monster,  with  equine  fore  legs.  While  centaurs  with  human 
fore  legs  are  not  unfrequently  figured  upon  archaic  vases1 

are  armed  were  held  to  be  the  instruments  of  pastoral  music,  and  the  attack¬ 
ing  column  itself  but  a  festive  train.  The  official  account  of  the  Director 
of  the  Louvre  (Clarac,  Musee,  vol.  ii.  part  ii.)  is  delightfully  idyllic:  “Ceci  pa- 
rait  une  course  de  plaisir,  et  ce  que  ces  centaures  tenaient  presque  tous  a  la 
main  gauche  et  pres  de  leur  bouche,  pourrait  bien  etre  une  sorte  de  trompette 
ou  de  cornet  dont  les  sons  champetres  accompagnent  et  excitent  leur  course 
joyeuse.” 

1  Representations  of  human-legged  centaurs  upon  archaic  vases  have  been  met 
with  by  the  writer  in  the  following  works  :  Dorow  (Wilhelm),  Voyage  A'rcheolo- 
gique  dans  V Ancienne  Etrurie,  Paris,  1829,  PI.  I.  6,  and  IV.  2.  Witte  (Jean 
Joseph  Antoine  Marie  de),  Pelie  et  Thetis ,  Annali ,  Roma,  1832,  pp.  91-127, 
engraved  in  the  Monumenti  Inediti  for  1832,  vol.  i.,  Roma,  1829-32,  pi.  37. 
Micali  (Giuseppe),  Storia  degli  Antichi  Popoli  Italiani,  Firenze,  1832,  pis.  19, 
20,  95.  Inghirami  (Francesco),  Etrusco  Museo  Chiusino ,  Firenze,  1833-34, 
pi.  84.  Maximis  (Franciscus  Xaverius  de),  Musei  Etrusci  quod  Gregorius  XVI, 
in  Aedibus  Vaticanis  Constituit  Monimenta,  Romae,  1842,  vol.  ii.  pi.  100.  Roulez 
(Joseph  Emmanuel  Ghislain),  V Education  d'Achille,  pi.  1.  E.  Academie  de 
Bruxelles,  Bulletin,  vol.  ix.,  2me  partie,  1842.  Campana  (Giovanni  Pietro), 
Antiche  Opere  in  Plastica,  Roma,  1842-52,  part  2,  pi.  22.  Micali  (Giuseppe), 
Monumenti  Inediti,  Firenze,  1844,  pi.  27.  4.  Michaelis  (Adolph),  Athenische 
Vasen,  Archaologischer  Anzeiger,  No.  149,  150;  Archdologische  Zeitung,  Berlin, 
1861,  No.  14.  Gamurrini  (G.  F.),  Un  Antico  Sepolcreto  in  Arezzo,  Annali, 
Roma,  1872,  p.  279 ;  compare  the  notes  entitled  Scavi  d’ Arezzo,  by  the  same 
writer,  in  the  Bullettino,  Roma,  1869,  p.  72.  Heydemann  (Heinrich  Gustav 
Dieudonne),  Vasensammlung  des  Museums  zu  Palermo ,  Archdologische  Zeitung, 
Berlin,  1871.  Salzmann  (Auguste),  Necropole  de  Camiros,  Paris,  1875,  pis.  26, 
27,  39-  Colvin,  Centaurs  in  Greek  Vase  Painting,  quoted  above,  pis.  1  and  2, 
fig.  4.  Puchstein  (Otto),  Kyren'dische  Vasen,  Archdologische  Zeitung,  Berlin, 
1881.  Special  search  among  the  catalogues  of  vase  collections  would  with- 

10 


146 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


and  gems,1  in  sculpture  they  are  exceedingly  rare.  The 
Assos  relief  of  Herakles  and  Pholos,  discovered  by  the  ex¬ 
pedition,  is  the  only  known  example  of  the  occurrence  of  such 
forms  in  any  work  of  considerable  size,  or  of  monumental 
character.  A  figurine,  found  by  Ross  upon  the  Acropolis 
of  Athens,  and  a  small  bronze  relief,  lately  unearthed  at 

out  doubt  reveal  many  others.  In  the  Museo  Etrusco,  Rome,  is  an  inedited 
vase  with  representations  in  low  relief,  one  of  the  human-legged  centaurs  of 
which  is  shown  in  Fig.  36.  Besides  two  fragments  from  Kameiros,  published  by 
Salzmann  in  the  work  quoted  above,  and  the  vase  given  by  Colvin,  pi.  2,  there 
ai  e  in  the  collection  of  the  British  Museum  two  fine  inedited  vases  with  repre¬ 
sentations  of  human-legged  centaurs.  These  are  numbered  B.  116,  and  B.  420. 

The  scene  illustrated  by  the  latter  is  the  reception  of 
Herakles  by  Pholos.  The  writer  has  observed  un¬ 
published  vases  showing  human-legged  centaurs  in 
the  Louvre  and  the  Museum  of  Berlin;  but  as  the 
purpose  of  the  present  note  is  merely  to  provide 
proof  for  the  statement  in  the  text,  a  further  enu¬ 
meration  is  unnecessary. 

A  curious  uncertainty  of  form — a  hesitation  be¬ 
tween  human  and  equine  members  —  is  noticeable 
in  some  representations  referable  to  a  period  of  tran¬ 
sition.  Thus  centaurs  with  human  fore  legs  termi¬ 
nating  in  horse’s  hoofs  are  shown  upon  an  archaic 
vase  published  by  Helbig  (Wolfgang),  Imitazioni  di 
Vast  Corintii,  A  nnali,  Roma,  1863,  tav.  1.  The 
same  combination  appears  upon  one  of  the  gems  in  the  British  Museum,  re¬ 
ferred  to  in  the  following  note. 

1  In  the  British  Museum  are  two  gems  representing  human-legged  centaurs ; 
one  from  the  Hamilton,  the  other  from  the  Castellani  collection.  At  the  time  of 
writing  they  are  not  designated  by  catalogue  numbers.  Woodcuts  of  them  are 
given  by  Colvin  in  the  Essay  before  quoted,  figs.  2  and  3.  Two  other  gems  are 
illustrated  by  Micali,  Storia,  pi.  46.  A  striking  peculiarity  of  these  latter  is 
that  both  of  the  human-legged  centaurs  are  winged  ;  the  one,  with  the  front  legs 
terminating  in  talons,  having  the  wings  extended  from  the  human  shoulders,  the 
other  from  the  horse’s  back,  Pegasos-like.  These  additions  open  a  wide  vista  of 
monstrous  formations,  and  prove  the  agglutinative  character  of  such  types,  which 
may  very  probably  have  arisen,  as  Mr.  Murray  has  suggested  to  me,  through  the 
combination  of  various  heraldic  symbols,  like  the  quarterings  of  our  coats  of 
arms.  A  fifth  gem,  showing  a  human-legged  centaur,  and  published  by  Gori 
(Antonio  Francesco),  Museum  Florentinum,  Florentiae,  1731-66,  vol.  ii.  pi.  39, 
appears,  as  well  as  can  be  judged  from  the  exceedingly  mannered  engraving,  to 


Fig.  36.  Human-legged 
Centaur. 

Upon  a  Vase  in  the  Museo  Etrusco, 
Rome. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


147 


Olympia,  have  been  mentioned  in  the  Preliminary  Report 1  as 
being  the  only  parallels  to  this  representation  which  are  to  be 
found  in  the  wide  field  of  Greek  decorative  sculpture.  To 
this  may  be  added  two  Etruscan  bronzes,2  between  three  and 
four  inches  in  height,  and,  notably,  a  terra-cotta  figurine 
from  Cyprus,  now  preserved  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of 
New  York.3 

The  combinations  of  human  with  animal  forms,  which  played 
so  great  a  part  in  the  sculpture  of  Egypt  and  Mesopotamia, 
were  rarely  adopted,  and  never  favorites  in  that  of  Greece. 
It  is  hence  the  more  remarkable  that,  in  this  type  of  centaur, 
as  in  the  primitive  gorgones  (/ xopfioXv/ceia ),  the  archaic  art  of 
Hellas  and  Etruria  even  exceeded  the  malformations  in  vogue 
among  the  barbarians.'  Oriental  art  does  not  appear  to  have 
ever  figured  a  quadruped  with  human  legs.  Such  a  form  was, 
however,  too  monstrous  to  be  long  retained  by  the  rapidly 
advancing  sculpture  and  painting  of  the  Greeks,  and  was  soon 
proscribed  as  disgraceful.  Entirely  apart  from  its  horrid 

be  a  forgery  of  the  later  Renaissance.  A  gem  in  crystal,  representing  a  female 
centaur  of  this  type  drinking  from  a  rhyton,  in  the  National  Library  at  Paris 
(Chabouillet,  Catal.  des  Camles,  No.  1689),  is  engraved  in  A.  Bougot,  Philostrate 
Vancien.  Une  Galerie  antique,  p.  361. 

A  bronze  vase  with  a  representation  of  this  kind  is  given  by  Helbig  (Wolf¬ 
gang),  Ciste  Prenestine,  Bullettino,  Roma,  1866,  p.  144,  No.  16 ;  and  a  large  cylinder 
of  ivory  ornamented  with  reliefs,  is  published  by  the  same  writer  in  the  Bullettino, 

.  1874,  p.  210,  in  an  article  entitled  Scavi  di  Ckiusi.  This  highly  interesting  cylin¬ 
der  is  now  in  the  Terrosi  collection,  Cetona. 

1  First  Report,  p.  no,  notes  1  and  2. 

2  The  one  published  in  Gori  (A.  F.),  Museum  Etruscum,  Florentiae,  1737-43, 

pi.  65;  the  other  by  Braun  (Emil),  Bronzi  Etruschi,  Annali,  1836,  p.  61,  en¬ 
graved  in  the  Monumenti  Inediti,  Roma,  1836,  vol.  ii.  pi.  29.  Compare  the  refer¬ 
ences  in  the  Bullettino  for  1835  ar)d  f°r  Itis  apparently  the  latter  of  these 

to  which  reference  was  made  by  Helbig,  in  a  paper  read  at  an  archaeological 
meeting  and  reported  in  the  Bullettino  for  1871,  No.  IV.  ;  if  this  be  not  the  case, 
then  a  third  bronze,  closely  resembling  the  other  two,  is  to  be  added  to  the  list. 

8  See  Note  on  a  Terra-Cotta  Figurine  from  Cyprus  of  a  Centaur  with  human 
Fore  Legs,  by  Thomas  W.  Ludlow,  in  Bulletin  of  the  Archceological  Institute  of 
America,  I.,  Jan.,  1883,  Boston;  with  a  photograph  of  the  object. 


148 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


nature,  this  combination  was  at  a  disadvantage,  because  not 
lending  itself  to  the  exigencies  of  artistic  representation.  In 
a  state  of  rest,  the  dissimilarity  of  the  legs  might  not  be  found 
intolerable,  but  any  vigorous  movement  became  at  once  un¬ 
manageable  and  ludicrous,  —  the  mode  of  locomotion  of  the 
human  members  being  entirely  unlike  that  of  the  equine. 
The  awkward  sprawl  of  the  human-legged  centaurs  upon  the 
Assos  epistyle,  for  instance,  must  have  formed  a  striking  con¬ 
trast  to  the  easy  gallop  of  their  neighbors.  Thus  the  primi¬ 
tive  conformation  of  the  centaur,  in  which  a  horse’s  trunk  and 
hind  legs  were  attached  as  an  outgrowth  to  the  complete 
body  of  a  human  being,  was  given  up  after  but  few  experi¬ 
ments.  The  more  perfect  structure  seems  to  have  come  into 
general  use  some  time  before  the  building  of  the  Assos 
temple,  —  as  early,  at  all  events,  as  the  time  of  Pindar,  who 
refers  to  centaurs  as  horse-legged,  “  from  their  dam  inheriting 
the  parts  below,  from  their  sire  the  parts  above.”  1  In  fact, 
the  earlier  conception,  which  in  monumental  stone-carving  is 
represented  only  by  our  relief,  ultimately  became  altogether 
foreign  to  the  Greek  mind,  as  is  evident  from  a  forcible, 
albeit  somewhat  coarse,  epigram  preserved  in  the  Anthology 
of  Planudes  : 

'AvbpdQev  itinexuB'  Ittttos  *  doUjpape  S’  hnroBev  avr/p, 
avrjp  1 '6  a  (fit  ttoScov,  Kf^aXrjs  S’  are p  aloXos  ittttos  • 

Ittttos  epevyercu  dv8pa,  dvrjp  S’  diroTTepberai  lttttop.2 

And  even  more  directly  from  another  : 

" Ittttos  erjv  d<apr]vos,  avrjp  S’  ar  eX  e  aros  exeiro 
ov  ye  (pvais  Tral^ovaa  6oa>  iveKevTpiaev  Ittttw? 

1  Pindar,  Pythia ,  II.  88,  ed.  Ileyne.  Muller  ( Archaologie  der  Kunst ,  ed.  1878, 

§  389)  seems  to  place  too  late  a  date  for  this  transformation  of  the  human-legged 
to  the  horse-legged  centaur,  stating  that  it  took  place  “  etwa  seit  Pheidias.” 
Schmitz  (Article  Centauri,  in  Smith’s  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Biography 
and  Mythology,  London,  1876)  likewise  states  that  the  latter  form  “  was  probably 
not  used  before  the  time  of  Phidias  and  Alcamenes.” 

2  Anth.  Palat.,  Append.  Planud.,  115.  8  Ibid.,  116. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


149 


The  appearance  of  three  human-legged  centaurs  upon  the 
Assos  relief  suffices  to  disprove  the  assumption  of  Kliig- 
mann,1  who  has  argued  that  this  form  was  not  that  in  which 
the  archaic  designers  figured  to  themselves  the  entire  race 
of  centaurs,  but  was  a  distinction  with  which  the  more  hu¬ 
mane  and  mild-mannered  among  them  were  alone  honored  : 
Cheiron,  and  occasionally  Pholos,  being  thus  anthropomor¬ 
phized,  as  it  were.  Still  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  human 
members  were  retained  until  a  somewhat  later  date  in  the 
case  of  Cheiron,  who,  from  the  nature  of  those  mythological 
scenes  in  which  he  appears,  was  not  commonly  represented 
in  violent  action.2 

While  the  Herakles  relief  is  unquestionably  the  more  char¬ 
acteristic  and  interesting  work,  the  block  newly  discovered 
displays  a  great  advance  in  respect  to  technical  ability.  The 
bodies  of  the  horse-footed  centaurs  are  much  more  correctly 
formed  ;  the  curves  of  back  and  belly  show  a  direct  observa¬ 
tion  of  the  living  animal,  and  contrast  strongly  with  the  lank 
and  almost  cylindrical  bodies  of  their  human-footed  neighbors. 
The  action  of  the  hind  legs,  though  entirely  conventional,  is 
more  true  to  nature  ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  human 
trunks,  which  are  better  proportioned,  and  modelled  with  a 
greater  understanding  of  the  muscular  development.  These 
remarks  apply  also  to  the  arms,  —  much  too  short  in  the 
more  archaic  relief.  The  heads  ~e  of  a  like  type,  —  the  hair 

1  Kliigmann  (Adolph),  Sulla  Maniera  di  Rappresentare  i  Centatiri,  Bullet- 
tino,  1876,  p.  140.  It  is  interesting  to  note  in  this  connection  that  the  ancient 
tradition  (Aelian,  Var.  Hist.,  IX.  16)  represented  Mares,  the  centaur  of  the  Auso- 
nes,  to  have  been  human-legged. 

2  Almost  all  those  vases  of  later  date  which  have  been  referred  to  as 
showing  human-legged  centaurs  represent  the  single  figure  of  Cheiron.  It  is 
worthy  of  especial  notice  that  on  the  Frangois  vase  (Braun,  Emil,  Vaso  di 
Clitia  ed  Ergotimo,  Annali,  1848,  engraved  in  the  Monumenti  Inediti,  1S44-48, 
vol.  iv.  pis.  54,  55)  Cheiron  has  human  legs,  while  all  the  other  centaurs  are 
horse-legged. 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


150 

looped  above  the  ears  and  falling  in  a  thick  mass  upon  the 
back  of  the  neck,  while  lying  so  closely  upon  the  skull  itself 
as  clearly  to  show  its  round  outline.  In  the  new  relief  they 
are  smaller  and  in  better  proportion  with  the  figures,  but 
much  less  expressive,  being  almost  entirely  free  from  that 
uncouth  and  goblin-like  aspect  which  is  so  attractive  in  the 
centaurs  of  the  corner  block,  because  so  well  in  keeping  with 
the  wild  nature  of  this  mountain  roaming  race,  infuriated  by 
the  odor  of  the  wine  which  Pholos  had  broached  for  the  hero. 

The  most  interesting,  and  in  scientific  respects  by  far  the 
most  important,  of  all  the  Assos  reliefs,  namely,  that  represent¬ 
ing  Herakles,  Pholos,  and  the  three  human-legged  centaurs 
(Fig.  37),  fell  to  the  share  of  the  explorers  in  the  official  divis¬ 
ion,  and  is  now  in  the  Museum  of  Boston,  No.  S.  1157.  The 
main  features  of  this  work  have  been  referred  to  in  the  Prelim¬ 
inary  Report.1  In  one  respect  that  description  was  at  fault. 
It  was  stated  that,  judging  from  the  position  of  the  middle 
regula,  and  the  width  of  the  intercolumniations,  this  block 
is,  upon  its  upper  surface  preserved  in  its  original  length. 
Hence  it  was  concluded  to  be  hardly  possible  that  the  body 
of  a  horse  could  have  been  sculptured  upon  the  missing 
portion  of  the  relief,  and  that  the  figure  standing  imme¬ 
diately  behind  Herakles  was  consequently  not  a  centaur,  but 
a  human  being.2  In  conformity  with  this  view  the  figure  in 

1  First  Report,  pp.  107-III,  PI.  15. 

2  A  curious  argument  is  advanced  by  an  anonymous  writer  in  the  New  York 
Critic,  July  I,  1882,  in  respect  to  this  figure.  The  author  of  a  review  of  the 
First  Report  states  that  there  exist  ancient  representations  of  centaurs  which 
show  them  not  as  quadrupeds,  but  as  perfect  human  beings  with  the  sole  addi¬ 
tion  of  a  horse’s  tail.  Hence,  it  is  argued,  the  individual  standing  behind  Her¬ 
akles  on  our  relief,  although  destitute  of  a  horse’s  trunk  and  hind  legs,  may 
nevertheless  be  held  to  be  a  centaur,  and  in  fact  Pholos  himself,  who  is  “  thus 
represented  to  distinguish  him  from  the  other  centaurs.”  It  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  enter  into  a  criticism  of  such  a  confusion  between  the  clearly  differentiated 
forms  of  satyrs  and  of  centaurs. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


151 

question  was  identified  as  Iolaos,  the  companion  of  the  hero, 
who  not  infrequently  appears  in  ancient  representations  of 
this  scene.  A  calculation  of  the  original  length  of  the  blocks, 
with  reference  to  the  positions  occupied  by  the  separate  re¬ 
liefs  upon  the  epistyle,  —  in  this  case  to  be  determined  with 
certainty,  —  has  shown  the  incorrectness  of  the  identification 
at  first  adopted.  Owing  to  the  excessive  irregularity  of  all  the 
members  of  the  entablature,  no  estimate  of  dimensions  can 
pretend  to  greater  accuracy  than  that  which  may  be  expressed 
in  decimeters,  but  even  this  is  sufficient  to  furnish  a  proof. 
To  ascertain  the  width  of  the  intercolumniation,  from  centre 
to  centre  of  the  columns  above  which  the  block  was  placed 
we  have  to  add  to  the  total  length  of  the  two  fragments 
found  the  length  of  the  half-regula  which  is  missing  upon 
the  left-hand  side.  The  result  thus  obtained  —  namely,  a 
minimum  of  2.7  m.  —  makes  it  evident  that  this  relief  was 
above  one  of  the  corner  intercolumniations  of  the  front, 
which  alone  are  of  so  great  a  dimension.  Now  the  position 
in  which  the  two  fragments  were  discovered  —  close  to  the 
southern  corner  of  the  eastern  front  —  leaves  little  doubt  as 
to  which  of  the  four  corner  intercolumniations  it  is  to  be  as¬ 
signed.  The  exact  spot  in  which  the  Herakles  relief  was 
unearthed  is  indicated  upon  the  plan  of  the  Acropolis  given 
in  the  First  Report.1  It  may  be  here  remarked  that  those 
sculptured  epistyle  blocks  which  were  incorporated  into  the 
rude  masonry  which  surrounded  the  temple  plan  seem  never 
to  have  been  moved,  after  their  fall,  from  the  front  to  the 
rear  of  the  building,  or  vice  versa.  This  fact,  naturally  to 
be  assumed  in  the  absence  of  contrary  evidence,  is  actually  to 
be  proved  in  the  case  of  all  those  other  reliefs  of  which  the 
position  upon  the  entablature  is  recognizable  from  other  con¬ 
siderations  ;  namely,  the  two  fragments  of  the  sphinxes  now 

1  First  Report,  PI.  2,  B. 


152 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


in  Boston,  and  the  horse-legged  centaurs  of  the  eastern  front, 
and  the  two  fragments  of  the  other  sphinxes,  and  the  lion  and 
boar  from  the  western  front.  In  the  case  of  the  Herakles 
relief  the  conclusion  drawn  from  the  place  of  discovery  is 
confirmed  by  the  general  direction  of  the  composition,  which 
would  naturally  have  been  advanced  towards  the  centre  of 
the  facade,  rather  than  towards  the  sides  of  the  building. 
The  movement  from  left  to  right,  so  decidedly  pronounced, 
would  thus  indicate  the  relief  to  have  occupied  either  the 
northern  corner  of  the  rear,  or  this  southern  corner  of  the 
front.  To  contain  the  full  body  of  a  centaur  behind  the  trunk 
of  the  individual  standing  next  to  Herakles  would,  indeed,  re¬ 
quire  the  panel  to  have  had  a  length  of  about  three  meters, — 
greater  by  20  cm.  than  any  intercolumniation  in  the  building, 
—  so  that  the  identification  set  forth  in  the  First  Report  was 
not  without  a  semblance  of  reason.  The  difficulty  is,  however, 
entirely  removed,  and  a  further  argument  to  prove  the  position 
of  the  relief  gained,  by  the  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the 
corner  epistyle  was  lengthened  beyond  the  axis  of  the  cor¬ 
ner  column  by  one  half  the  thickness  of  the  entablature,  so 
that  there  must  have  been  a  length  of  three  meters  from  the 
right-hand  side  of  this  relief  to  the  corner  of  the  building. 
It  does  not,  of  course,  follow  that  the  lintel  itself  was  of  this 
length,  for  the  corner  epistyle  blocks  were  not  mitred,  but 
overlapped,  and,  as  the  lap  and  true  corner  seem,  as  will  be 
subsequently  explained,  to  have  been  cut  upon  the  beams 
of  the  side,  we  have  to  deduct  from  the  given  total  the 
width  of  these  overlaps,  which,  judging  from  the  lower  thick¬ 
ness  of  the  epistyle  beams,  and  the  length  of  the  two  other 
corner  beams,  was  planned  to  equal  somewhat  less  than  one 
half  of  the  corner  regula,  or  about  20  cm.  The  original 
length  of  the  relief  representing  Herakles  and  the  centaurs 
may  thus  be  asserted  to  have  been  very  nearly  2.8  m.,  —  or, 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


153 


in  other  words,  of  just  that  dimension  which,  taken  together 
with  the  overlap,  would  be  necessary  to  contain  the  body  of 
a  centaur  behind  the  hero.  The  figure  called  Iolaos  in  the 
Preliminary  Report  is  hence,  beyond  all  doubt,  that  of  Pholos, 
whose  presence  is  scarcely  less  necessary  for  the  identification 
of  the  scene  than  that  of  Herakles  himself. 

Pholos  holds  in  his  left  hand  the  drinking  vessel  which,  in 
the  most  ancient  reference  to  the  story  that  has  come  down  to 
us,  the  friendly  centaur  is  described  as  handing  to  his  guest : 

2icvn<f)eiov  8e  Xaf3d>v  terras  epperpov  tbs'  TpiXdyvvov, 

Tvlev  ema^opevos,  to  pd  oi  napedrjKe  <foAos  Kepdaas -1 

1  Stesichoros  in  Athenaios,  XI.  499  B.  The  form  of  drinking  vessel  illus¬ 
trated  by  Jahn  (Otto),  Beschreibung  der  Vasensammlung  Konig  Ludwig' s  in  der 
Pinakothek  zn  Munchen,  Miinchen,  1854,  pi.  i.  6,  (re-engraved  and  more  gen¬ 
erally  accessible  in  Guhl  and  Koner,  Das  Lebeti  der  Griechen  und  Rom er,  ed.  3, 
Berlin,  1872,  fig.  198.  4,)  as  a  skyphos,  is  precisely  like  that  held  by  Pholos  in 
the  relief  discovered  at  Assos.  This  form  of  drinking  vessel  is  termed  by  Pa- 
nofka  (Theodor),  Rechcrches  sur  les  veritables  Noms  des  Vases  Grecs,  Paris,  1829, 
pi.  4,  a  kotyle;  but  that  this  identification  is  incorrect  may  be  plainly  seen  from 
the  testimony  of  Athenaios  (XI.  478  B),  who  expressly  states  that  the  kotyle 
has  but  a  single  handle.  Stephani,  Conipte  Rendu ,  1873,  is  likewise  in  fault 
when  describing  the  skyphos  as  a  henkelloses  Gefdss,  — -  for  that  the  skyphos 
was  provided  with  handles  is  plain  from  a  reference  of  Simonides  (in  Athenaios, 
XI.  498  E)  to  an  ovarderra  <TK\xpov.  The  correct  identification  of  the  ancient 
name  is  due  to  Gerhard  (Eduard),  Intorno  le  Forme  di  Vast  Volcenti,  Annali , 
1831,  p.  257,  and  Monument i  Inediti,  1831,  pi.  xxvii.  46-49;  also,  Ultime 
Ricerche  suite  Forme  di  Vasi  Greet,  Annali,  1836,  pi.  c.  24,  25,  and  47,  and  Ber¬ 
lin’s  Antike  Bildwerke,  Berlin,  1836,  Beilage  A,  No.  28.  Compare  the  critical 
remarks  upon  this  point  by  Letronne  (Jean  Antoine),  Observations  Philologiques 
et  Arche ol ogiques  sur  les  Noms  des  Vases  grecs,  Paris,  1833. 

The  skyphos,  a  homely  substitute  for  the  kantharos,  seems  to  have  been  par¬ 
ticularly  in  use  among  country  people.  Thus  Asklepiades  of  Myrlea  (in  Athe¬ 
naios,  XI.  49S  F)  says,  None  of  those  who  live  in  towns,  not  even  citizens  who 
are  but  moderately  well  off,  use  the  skyphos, — which  is  employed  only  by 
swineherds  and  shepherds,  and  men  in  the  fields  generally.”  Alkman  (in  Athe-  * 
naios,  XI.  499  A)  speaks  of  a  huge  skyphos  “such  as  is  owned  by  shepherds”; 
and  Eumaios  offers  wine  to  Odysseus  in  a  cup  of  this  kind  (Odyss.,  XIV.  114). 
Theokritos  [Idyll.,  I.  143)  even  uses  the  word  for  wooden  milk  pails:  evidently 
such  two-handled  vessels  as  are  still  employed  by  the  herdsmen  of  Sicily  and 
Calabria  in  dipping  out  whey  from  the  enormous  caldrons  in  which  the  milk  is 


i54 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


The  left  hand  is  raised  as  if  in  deprecation  of  so  rude  an 
interruption  of  his  hospitality.  The  quiet  and  almost  stately 
attitude  of  Pholos  contrasts  strongly  with  the  wild  gestures  of 
the  other  centaurs.  His  head  is  of  a  higher  type  than  theirs, 
being  smaller  and  better  formed.  He  is  bearded  like  the 
others,  but  his  beard  is  shorter  and  more  comely.  The  chest, 
which  is  shown  in  direct  profile,  is  full  and  well  formed  ;  and 
though  the  head,  supported  upon  too  short  a  neck,  droops 
slightly  forward,  as  if  to  indicate  the  physical  weakness  of 
this  aged  centaur,  the  carriage  of  the  shoulders  is  erect  and 
dignified.  In  fine,  the  endeavor  of  the  sculptor  to  give  a 
certain  nobility  to  this  personage  is  clearly  apparent. 

The  other  figures  were  correctly  identified  in  the  Prelimi¬ 
nary  Report.  Hence  the  following  remarks  concerning  them 
should  be  taken  in  connection  with  the  general  description  cf 
the  relief,  and  of  the  scene  which  it  represents,  given  in  that 
volume.1 

The  chief  attention  of  the  sculptor  was  evidently  devoted  to 
the  figure  of  Herakles,  which  displays  a  closer  observation  of 
nature,  and  greater  care  in  execution,  than  do  the  centaurs. 
In  spite  of  the  surface  weathering,  the  details  of  the  head  are 
still  distinct,  and  prove  how  firmly  the  outlines  must  origi¬ 
nally  have  been  marked.  Though  elevated  considerably  more 

boiled.  In  short,  the  vase  is  precisely  such  a  one  as  might  be  supposed  to  be  in 
the  hands  of  the  more  civilized  of  the  centaurs,  and  is  fitly  representative  of  the 
rude  hospitality  which  Pholos  offered  to  the  Doric  hero. 

To  this  it  may  be  added  that  the  skyphos  had  come  to  be  peculiarly  identified 
with  the  gluttonous  Herakles,  who  was  said  to  have  originally  used  this  kind  of 
a  cup  while  on  his  expeditions  (Athenaios,  XI.  500  A).  Macrobius  (Sat-,  V.  21) 
says,  “  Scyphos  Herculis  poculum  est.”  “To  drink  the  cup  of  Herakles”  evi¬ 
dently  came  to  mean  excessively  large  potations.  (Plutarch,  Alex.  75.)  Com¬ 
pare  Virgil  (Aen.,  VIII.  278)  and  the  commentary  of  Servius  on  this  passage. 
Lucian  ( Conviv .,  14)  particularly  refers  to  the  position  in  which  the  ancient 
Greek  painters  were  wont  to  represent  Herakles,  drinking  in  the  cave  of  Pholos, 
and  holding  this  cup  in  his  right  hand. 

1  First  Report,  pp.  108- no. 


V 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


155 


than  seven  meters  above  the  eye  of  the  beholder,  every  feature 
must  have  been  readily  distinguishable,  even  without  the 
emphasis  of  color.  The  hair,  though  by  no  means  so  closely 
cropped  as  that  of  Herakles  is  usually  shown  in  later  times, 
is  comparatively  short,  as  becomes  an  athletic  hero.  Masses 
of  clustering  curls,  the  separate  locks  of  which  were  without 
doubt  represented  by  painted  spirals,  are  indicated  by  a  broad 
welt  above  the  brow,  and  by  a  short  chignon.  Between  these 
a  sharply  pronounced  curve  displays  the  outline  of  the  skull, 
high  and  short,  —  in  fact  of  the  same  hypsibrachycephalic 
type  as  the  crania  of  the  ancient  Assians  themselves.  The 
features  are  those  of  a  young  man.  The  receding  forehead  is 
higher  and  somewhat  more  convex  than  that  customary  in 
the  more  advanced  style,  forming  with  the  coarse  and  promi¬ 
nent  nose  a  profile  resembling  that  of  the  heads  of  such  stat¬ 
ues  of  athletes  as  the  so-called  Apollos  of  Thera  and  Tenea- 
The  eye,  standing  in  a  slightly  oblique  position,  is  full  and 
almond-shaped,  almost  as  if  drawn  de  face.  The  lips  are 
thick  and  pouting,  nearly  touching  the  lower  surface  of  the 
nostrils  ;  the  corners  of  the  mouth  are  still  drawn  upwards, 
but  the  archaic  smile  has  almost  vanished.  The  inferior  jaw 
is  massive;  the  chin  round.  In  short,  the  face  is  that  of  a 
vigorous,  unintellectual  athlete,  excellently  characterized. 

Although  the  energetic  movement  of  the  body  has  evidently 
been  studied  from  the  living  model,  and  is  rendered  with  con¬ 
siderable  freedom  and  technical  skill,  it  is  in  the  forms  of  the 
trunk  and  lower  limbs,  rather  than  in  the  head,  that  we  meet 
with  distinct  reminiscences  of  archaism.  Thus  the  waist  is  un¬ 
naturally  compressed ;  the  buttocks  are  too  small,  and  yet  too 
protruding  ;  the  upper  part  of  the  legs  is  of  too  convex  a  curve 
upon  the  front  side;  the  knees,  especially  the  left,  are  insuffi¬ 
ciently  indicated,  and  too  much  rounded  in  outline.  The  feet 
are  small,  the  heel  and  ankle  having  but  little  projection, 


156  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 

while  the  toes  are  too  long  and  too  flat.  Now  all  these  fea¬ 
tures  are  characteristic  of  black-figured  vases  of  a  style  which, 
without  taking  into  account  the  influence  of  provincial  back¬ 
wardness,  would  be  ascribed  to  the  end  of  the  sixth,  or  first 
decade  of  the  fifth  century  before  Christ.  On  the  other  hand, 
a  highly  intelligent  observation  of  nature  is  no  less  noticeable 
in  those  parts  which  are  in  action,  and  in  the  representation 
of  which  no  set  model  of  forms  and  proportions  can  have  been 
employed  by  the  designer  of  this  figure.  Indeed,  the  treat¬ 
ment  is  here  extremely  skilful.  The  swift  yet  cautious  stride 
upon  the  slippery  ground  ; 1  the  inclination  of  the  trunk, 
thrown  forward  in  pursuit ;  the  outstretching  of  the  arms,  so 
as  to  hold  the  bow  entirely  free  ;  the  slight  lowering  of  the 
head,  in  order  to  take  sight  of  the  arrow  \  —  all  these  move¬ 
ments  are  clearly  expressed,  while  the  body  is  brought  into 
perfect  equilibrium.  The  muscles  of  the  right  upper  arm  are 
distended  with  the  effort  of  drawing  the  stout  bow ;  the  left 
arm  is  stiffened  in  full  resistance.  The  chest,  expanded  as  if 
by  a  deep  breath,  is  excessively  thick,  this  effect  being  pro¬ 
duced  by  a  greater  exaggeration  of  the  muscles  of  the  back 
than  of  those  of  the  breast.  This  peculiar  formation  evidently 
resulted  from  an  attempt  to  indicate  the  displacement  of  the 
right  shoulder  by  the  strain  of  the  arm,  but  even  taking  this 
into  account,  the  back  appears  too  round,  and  even  slightly 
humped.  The  difference  in  plane  between  the  lower  ribs  and 
the  abdomen  is  so  marked  as  to  cause  the  latter  to  appear 
unnaturally  contracted.  This  extreme  development  of  the 
trunk  is,  however,  entirely  in  accord  with  the  character  of  the 
hero,  who  was  conceived  by  the  Greek  sculptors  of  all  ages 

1  Nephele,  the  cloud  mother  of  the  centaurs,  had  during  the  combat  deluged 
the  earth  with  torrents  of  rain,  so  that  Herakles  could  hardly  stand  upright  upon 
the  slippery  ground,  while  his  four-footed  opponents  were  not  thereby  discom¬ 
forted.  Diodoros  (IV.  12.  6)  makes  particular  mention  of  this  picturesque  de¬ 
tail  of  the  legend. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1S83. 


i5  7 


as  a  human  being  of  extraordinary  strength  and  energy, 
rather  than  as  a  demigod  endowed  with  supernatural  powers. 
It  has  been  truly  remarked  that  the  testimony  of  Greek 
writers1  clearly  shows  us  that  what  seems  an  undue  exag¬ 
geration  in  such  figures  as  these  was  but  the  emphasized 
idealization  of  the  athletic  form  as  it  appeared  in  reality. 

Herakles  attacks  the  affrighted  centaurs  with  the  bow  so 
closely  connected  with  several  of  his  exploits.  His  peculiar 
skill  in  the  use  of  this  weapon  was  renowned  in  the  Homeric 
poems,2  and  was,  throughout  antiquity,  so  striking  a  charac¬ 
teristic  of  the  hero  that  the  bow  must  be  regarded  as  his 
original  attribute.  As  Preller3  has  ingeniously  surmised,  the 
'OfiypiKr)  o-Tokr)  of  the  Herakles  of  the  poet  Xanthos  4  signifies 
this  accoutrement  of  the  hero  as  an  archer,  as  distinguished 
from  his  further  equipment  with  a  club,  which,  if  we  are  to  be¬ 
lieve  the  statement  of  Megakleides,  preserved  by  Athenaios,5 
was  first  introduced  by  Stesichoros.  Thus  the  reference  of  Pau- 
sanias6  to  the  primitive  of  Herakles  upon  the  chest  of 

Kypselos  in  Olympia  asserts  the  hero  to  have  there  appeared 
as  a  bowman,  —  of  the  same  type,  doubtless,  as  the  'Hpct/cXfjs 

1  For  instance,  Aristophanes,  Clouds ,  1009-1014. 

2  It  was  with  the  bow  that  Herakles  wounded  Aides,  and  even  Hera  herself 
{H->  V.  395)-  Compare  also  the  renown  of  Herakles  as  an  excellent  bowman  in 
the  Odyssey  (VIII.  224  and  XI.  606).  It  is  quite  possible  that  the  last  mentioned 
of  these  passages,  relating  to  the  descent  of  Herakles  to  the  infernal  regions,  is 
the  interpolation  of  a  later  age  (compare  the  special  literature  of  this  question,  in 
particular  Lauer,  Quaestiones  Homericae ,  Berolini,  1S43) !  but  we  may  nevertheless 
recognize  in  the  tradition  there  recorded  a  true  exponent  of  the  primitive  concep¬ 
tions  obtaining  in  regard  to  the  hero,  who  is  described  as  “  armed  with  a  naked 
bow,  and  an  arrow  at  the  string,  .  .  .  always  like  unto  one  about  to  let  fly  a 
shaft.”  The  peculiar  skill  of  Herakles  in  archery  was  celebrated  also  in  later 
ages;  e.  g.  Euripides,  Here.  Fur.,  157-164,  188,  etc. 

3  Preller  (Ludwig),  Griechische  Mythologie,  Leipzig,  1875,  I29,  n. 

4  Xanthos  in  Athenaios,  XII.  512  F. 

6  Ibid.  For  the  costume  of  Herakles  see  Muller’s  Dorians ,  B.  ii.  ch.  12,  §  1. 

6  Pausanias,  V.  17.  11. 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


158 

to^ott;?  in  combat  with  a  human-legged  centaur,  shown  upon 
the  archaic  bronze  relief  before  mentioned  as  having  been 
recently  unearthed  at  Olympia,  or  as  the  Herakles  of  the 
Assos  relief  of  the  same  subject,  now  under  consideration. 
By  its  contrary  flexure  we  recognize  the  weapon  which  he  here 
holds  in  his  hand  to  be  that  given  to  him  by  the  Scythian 
shepherd  Teutaros,  earliest  instructor  of  the  Dorian  hero  in 
archery,1  —  a  legend  significant,  it  may  be  surmised,  of  the 
Oriental  origin  of  all  that  was  known  to  the  primitive  Greeks 
in  regard  to  the  bow  and  its  fittings.2  No  doubt  can  exist 
concerning  the  peculiar  form  of  this  Scythian  bow.  Its  double 
curve,  re-entering  to  the  bar  grasped  by  the  hand,  is  compared 
by  Agathon3  to  the  shape  of  the  cursive  as  written  towards 
the  close  of  the  fifth  century  before  Christ.  Moreover,  the 
ancient  geographers  4  were  accustomed  to  compare  the  outline 
of  the  Black  Sea  to  that  of  a  Scythian  bow  ;  the  northern 
coast,  with  its  two  great  gulfs  separated  by  the  promontory 
of  the  Crimea,  standing  for  the  bow  itself,  the  comparatively 
straight  southern  coast  for  the  string.  This  graceful  contrary 

1  Scholiast  to  Theokritos  ( Idyll .,  XIII.  56),  quoting  from  Herodoros.  Com¬ 
pare  Lykophron,  Alex.,  56  and  458,  with  the  commentary  of  Tzetzes,  and  also  on 
v.  50. 

2  The  Oriental  origin  of  Greek  archery  has  been  referred  to  in  the  previous 

chapter,  p.  45,  in  connection  with  the  bronze  arrow-heads  of  Persian  shape  found 
upon  the  Acropolis  of  Assos.  Raoul-Rochette  (Desire),  Sur  V  Hercule  assyrieti 
et phenicien ,  considiri  dans  ses  Rapports  avec  1' Hercule  grec,  {Memoir es  de  I’Aca- 
dimie  des  Inscriptions,  Paris,  1848,  vol.  xvii.,  deuxieme  partie,)  has  called  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  striking  similarity  between  the  'Hpa/rAijs  of  the  archaic  coins 

of  Thasos,  and  the  types  of  the  royal  archer  upon  the  darics  of  Persia. 

3  Agathon,  in  Athenaios,  X.  454  D.  This  was,  of  course,  not  the  later 
sigma  of  segmental  shape.  Euripides  and  Theodektes  (in  the  same  passage  of 
Athenaios),  the  one  writing  in  the  same  age  as  Agathon,  the  other  nearly  a  cen¬ 
tury  later,  both  compare  the  form  of  the  letter  sigma  to  that  of  a  wavy  lock  o 
hair.  The  contrary  flexure  of  the  letter,  and  of  the  bow  which  it  is  said  to 
resemble,  is  thus  fully  assured. 

4  Dionysios  Periegetes,  156.  Strabo,  II.  5.  22,  p.  125.  Ammianus  Marcellinus, 
XXII.  8.  10. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


159 

flexure,  so  foreign  to  the  nature  of  wood,  must  have  resulted 
from  the  employment  of  the  horns  of  animals  in  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  bows,  —  the  bases  of  two  horns  being  attached  by 
a  splicing  of  a  metal  ferule  to  a  short,  straight  middle  piece. 
Such  were  the  weapons  so  accurately  described  by  Homer;1 
while  the  bow  thus  came,  even  in  later  ages,  to  be  termed 
/eepa?.2 

The  Scythian  bow  was  the  favorite  arm  of  Herakles,  and 
continued  to  be  a  characteristic  attribute  of  the  national  hero 
until  the  latest  ages  of  Greek  literature  and  art.3  As  will  be 
remembered,  this  was  the  very  weapon  given  by  Herakles 
to  his  friend  and  armor-bearer  Philoktetes,4  which,  after 
conquering  the  islands  near  the  Troad  and  expelling  from 
them  the  Carian  (Lelegian)  population,5  finally  terminated 
the  Trojan  war  by  killing  Paris.6  And  it  is  not  impossible 
that  the  Aeolic  colonists  of  Assos,  the  Greek  inhabitants  of 
the  ancient  capital  of  the  Leleges,  may  have  chosen  this  epi¬ 
sode  of  the  Centauromachia  from  among  the  many  deeds  of 
Herakles  on  account  of  the  connection  of  this  invincible  bow 
with  the  traditional  history  of  the  land  which  they  occupied. 
As  shown  upon  our  relief,  it  is  a  stout  and  very  short  weapon, 
—  scarcely  more  than  half  as  long  as  the  bow  of  Pandaros 
described  in  the  Iliad.  So  diminutive  is  it,  indeed,  that  we 

1  Iliad,  IV.  105 ;  Odyssey,  XXI.  395. 

2  As,  for  instance,  in  the  passage  of  Strabo  before  quoted,  and  Theokritos, 
Idyll.,  XXV.  2c6. 

3  A  reference  of  the  twelfth  Christian  century  to  the  Scythian  bow  as  an 
attribute  of  Herakles  is  contained  in  the  commentary  of  Tzetzes  to  Lykophron, 
Alex.,  917. 

4  Diodoros,  IV.  38.  4.  Philostratos,  Her.,  V.  1.  Philostratos  the  Lemnian, 
Imag.,  17.  Scholiast  to  the  Iliad,  II.  724,  ed.  Bekker,  90  B,  6.  Hyginus,  Fab., 
36,  102,  and  other  ancient  authorities. 

6  Philostratos,  Her.,  V.  3. 

6  The  ancient  authorities  in  support  of  this  version  of  the  legend,  ranging  as 
they  do  from  Sophokles  down  to  Kedrenos,  are  too  numerous,  and  in  part  at 
least  too  well  known,  to  be  quoted  here 


i6o 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


are  led  to  suspect  that  archery  was  but  little  practised  by 
the  Assians  at  the  period  to  which  this  sculpture  is  to  be 
ascribed.  There  is  ample  space  upon  the  relief  for  the  in¬ 
troduction  of  a  larger  bow,  and  the  careful  observation  of 
nature,  so  evident  in  the  muscular  development  of  the  bow¬ 
man,  could  not  otherwise  have  failed  to  be  extended  to  this 
important  adjunct,  which  thus  appears  rather  as  a  model, 
a  plaything,  in  short  a  conventional  attribute,  than  as  a 
really  effective  weapon.  Some  acquaintance  with  the  na¬ 
ture  of  the  bow  is  shown  in  the  thickening  of  the  tips  by 
the  ends  of  the  cord  wound  around  them  ;  but  the  curved 
horns  do  not  taper  sufficiently,  and  the  string  is  stretched 
to  much  too  acute  an  angle.  Moreover,  the  arrow  is  not 
represented,  as  it  should  have  been,  with  a  bow  thus  bent  in 
actual  use. 

The  fact  that  Herakles  is  depicted  at  Assos  without  the 
lion’s  skin  is  exceptional  among  archaic  works  of  art,  —  there 
being  but  very  few  instances  of  this  guise  upon  black-figured 
vases,1  —  and  may  perhaps  be  adduced  in  support  of  the  belief 
that  the  date  of  the  temple  is  to  be  placed  at  least  as  late  as 
the  close  of  the  Persian  war.  A  more  forcible  argument  to 
the  same  effect  is  to  be  based  upon  the  adoption  of  a  youth¬ 
ful  and  beardless  type  in  this  figure.  We  have  in  the  head 
of  Herakles  a  very  definite  indication  that  the  sculptures  of 
Assos  are  to  be  assigned  to  the  first  half  of  the  fifth  century 
before  Christ,  rather  than  to  a  more  remote  date ;  for,  while 
upon  black-figured  vases  belonging  with  certainty  to  the  sixth 
century  before  Christ,  Herakles  is  almost  invariably  shown 
as  bearded,  he  has  here  the  beardless  youthful  form  in  which 

1  One  is  shown  by  Welcker  (Friedrich  Gottlieb),  Rappresentazioni  dell'  Idra 
Lernea ,  Annali,  1842,  p.  103,  and  Monumenti  Inediti,  pi.  46,  Roma,  1836;  also 
in  the  Alte  Denkmaler  of  the  same  author,  vol.  iii.  pi.  6,  Gottingen,  1849-64. 
The  hero  attacking  the  hydra  is  armed  only  with  quiver  and  sword. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883.  161 

he  appears  in  the  gable  group  of  the  temple  of  Aigina  and  in 
the  metopes  of  the  Parthenon,  —  works  which,  in  respect  to 
style,  must  certainly  have  been  in  advance  of  the  sculptures  of 
provincial  Assos.  This  manner  of  depicting  Herakles  may 
have  been  introduced  by  the  Argive  sculptor  Ageladas,  whose 
youthful  Herakles,  preserved  in  Aigion,  is  mentioned  by  Pau- 
sanias  1  in  a  manner  which  seems  to  show  that  the  represen¬ 
tation  of  the  hero  without  a  beard  was  an  innovation  in  the 
age  when  that  artist  was  at  work.  The  determination  of  the 
exact  date  of  Ageladas  is,  as  Brunn  has  remarked  in  his  dis¬ 
cussion  of  this  point,2  one  of  the  most  difficult  questions  in 
the  history  of  ancient  art.  For  our  present  purpose,  it  will, 
however,  suffice  to  bear  in  mind  that  Ageladas,  having  been 
alive  at  least  as  late  as  the  eighty-second  Olympiad,  cannot 
well  be  assumed  to  have  created  this  type  of  Herakles,  which 
subsequently  became  common,  before  the  termination  of  the 
Persian  wars. 

In  regard  to  the  comparative  iconography  of  the  Assos 
relief,  a  striking  parallel  presents  itself  in  the  well-known 
Karapanos  relief  of  Herakles  drawing  the  bow.  Attention 
has  been  called  to  the  similarity  of  these  figures  by  Emer¬ 
son,3  who  has  engraved  them  side  by  side  for  the  purpose  of 
comparison.  The  genuineness  of  the  Karapanos  relief,  as¬ 
signed  by  Rayet 4  to  the  first  years  of  the  fifth  century  before 
Christ,  has  been  questioned  by  Emerson,  who  nevertheless 
conceded  this  work  to  have  retained  many  features  of  some 
original  very  similar  to  the  Assos  sculpture.  Furtwangler,5 

1  Pausanias,  VII.  24.  4. 

2  Brunn,  Griechische  KUnstler,  1857,  i.  64. 

3  Emerson  (Alfred),  Two  Modern  Antiques.  American  Journal  of  Archceology, 
vol.  i.  p.  152,  pi.  5.  Baltimore,  1885. 

4  Rayet  (Olivier),  Monuments  de  V Art  Antique,  pi.  23.  Paris,  1880-S4. 

6  Furtwangler  (Adolf),  American  Journal  of  Archaeology ,  vol.  ii.  p.  52. 
Baltimore,  1886. 


11 


162 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


on  the  other  hand,  believes  the  Karapanos  relief  to  be,  not  a 
modern,  but  an  ancient  imitation,  ranking  it  among  the  finest 
known  examples  of  archaistic  art,  and  suggesting  the  first 
century  before  Christ  as  the  probable  date  of  its  execution. 
Furtwangler  bases  his  argument  wholly  upon  the  style  of 
the  relief.  He  compares  it  with  another  slab  of  the  same 
size  (showing  Herakles  with  his  knee  upon  the  neck  of  a 
stag),  which  he  holds  to  have  belonged  to  the  same  series  of 
representations  of  the  labors  of  Herakles.  A  direct  proof  of 
this  view,  which  asserts  the  Karapanos  relief  to  be  an  antique 
but  archaistic  work,  may  be  derived  from  the  fact,  that,  while 
the  similarity  between  it  and  the  sculpture  of  the  Assos  epi¬ 
style  is  so  great  as  to  exclude  the  assumption  of  chance 
resemblance,  no  other  figure  of  this  type  is  known  to  be  in 
existence,  and  at  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  the  Kara¬ 
panos  relief  the  Assian  sculpture  was  still  buried  beneath  the 
earth. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  assume  the  archaistic  relief  to 
have  been  imitated  directly  from  the  decorations  of  the 
temple  of  provincial  Assos,  especially  as  it  appears  to  be  but 
one  of  a  series  of  representations  of  the  labors  of  Herakles. 
We  have  hence  to  seek  for  some  common  original  from  which 
the  leading  features  of  both  these  works  were  derived.  Furt¬ 
wangler  suggests  that  these  archaic  originals  were  statuary 
groups  of  the  series  of  Kritios  and  Nesiotes,  inasmuch  as  the 
head  of  the  Karapanos  Herakles  bears  a  close  resemblance 
to  that  of  Harmodios  in  the  group  of  the  Tyrannicides  at 
Naples,  — itself  a  copy  of  the  work  by  Kritios  and  Nesiotes, 
dedicated  in  477  b.  c.  by  the  Athenians.1  This  striking  re¬ 
semblance,  to  which  attention  was  called  by  Rayet,  has  been 

1  Marmor  Parium,  C.  I.  G.,  vol.  ii.  No.  2374,  Epoch,  i.  line  70.  Compare 
Bergk  (Theodor),  Zur  Periegese  der  Akropolis  von  Athen.  Zeitschrift  fur  Alter- 
thmnswissenschaft,  vol.  iii.  p.  972.  Giessen,  1845. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


163 


fully  recognized  by  both  Furtwangler  and  Emerson.  When 
critics  of  opinions  so  various  —  the  one  seeing  in  the  Kara- 
panos  relief  a  work  antedating  the  Persian  wars,  the  second 
ascribing  it  to  the  age  when  Greece  was  a  Roman  province, 
and  the  third  even  terming  it  a  modern  forgery  —  are  so 
unanimous  in  fixing  upon  the  type  from  which  it  must  have 
been  imitated,  it  is  certainly  difficult  to  avoid  the  conclusion 
that  the  original  from  which  these  characteristics  were  de¬ 
rived  is  indeed  to  be  referred  to  the  school  in  question. 
Moreover,  the  peculiarities  of  the  style  of  the  Kritios  and 
Nesiotes,  as  described  by  Lucian,1  (a  most  competent  observer, 
himself  trained  as  a  sculptor,)  are  certainly  recognizable  in 
both  the  Assos  and  Karapanos  reliefs.  We  have  in  the  figure 
of  Herakles  a  clear  illustration  of  the  term  aTrecr'fiiyp.eva, 
tightly  drawn  in,  compressed  like  the  abdomen  of  our  hero ; 
vevpooSrj  koX  a/cXppa,  sinewy  and  rigid,  of  firm  rather  than 
lithe  and  supple  muscles  ;  and  in  the  execution  of  the  entire 
relief,  that  sharply  cut  composition  of  the  outlines  and  some¬ 
what  exaggerated  emphasis  of  the  physical  development  result¬ 
ing  from  a  too  distinct  demarcation  of  the  protruding  muscles, 
which  is  referred  to  as  d/qat/3<y?  dirojerapieva  Tat?  ypap^pals. 

We  thus  have  good  grounds  for  the  belief  that  the  style  of 
the  Assos  relief  now  under  consideration  was  influenced  by 
that  of  Kritios  and  Nesiotes,  and  may  perhaps  even  go  so  far 
as  to  assume  that  the  type  of  the  Herakles  which  here  ap¬ 
pears  was  a  direct  creation  of  these  sculptors.  The  converse 
cannot  be  admitted  for  a  moment.  It  is  obviously  impossible 
to  entertain  the  supposition  that  the  work  of  Athenian  artists, 
who  represented  the  highest  contemporary  development  in 
the  modelling  of  the  human  figure,  can  have  been  in  any 
way  influenced  by  the  rude  decorations  of  a  building  in  a 
provincial  town  of  Asia  Minor. 

1  Lucian,  Rhet.  Praec.  9. 


164 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


This  identification  is  entirely  in  harmony  with  the  date 
which  other  considerations  would  lead  us  to  assign  to  the 
temple  of  Assos.  If  the  building  was  in  reality  erected 
during  the  age  immediately  succeeding  the  Persian  wars,  — 
let  us  say  between  the  seventy-fifth  and  eighty-fifth  Olym¬ 
piads,  —  nothing  would  have  been  more  natural  than  that  its 
sculptures  should  have  displayed  in  the  better  figures  some 
traces  of  the  contemporary  art  of  Athens,  with  which  city 
Assos  was  then  politically  allied,  and  to  which  she  must  have 
looked  as  the  great  leader  of  intellectual  and  artistic  advance. 
Even  as  the  plan  of  the  temple  was  copied  almost  exactly 
from  that  of  the  Theseion,  the  types  of  its  most  perfect 
sculptured  decorations  were  derived  from  contemporary 
works  of  the  Attic  school. 

While  the  Karapanos  relief  thus  supplies  us  with  an  indi¬ 
cation  as  to  the  artistic  style  of  the  work  from  which  this 
figure  of  Plerakles  was  derived,  other  parallels  make  it  plain 
that  this  original  was  a  relief  of  considerable  extent,  depicting 
the  combat  of  Herakles  and  the  centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe  in 
the  same  general  composition  as  that  which  appears  in  the 
sculptured  epistyle  found  at  Assos.  There  exist  a  number  of 
painted  vases  with  representations  of  this  scene  in  which  the 
grouping  of  the  figures  evidently  was  determined,  in  greater 
or  less  measure,  by  reminiscences  of  some  archaic  work  of 
art  known  throughout  the  Hellenic  world,  and  regarded  as 
typical  of  the  subject.  The  composition  and  forms  of  this 
popular  original  were  imitated,  not  only  in  the  monumental 
decorations  of  a  provincial  temple,  but  in  the  paintings  of 
those  exquisite  vases  which  were  to  be  found  in  the  dwellings 
of  every  Greek  citizen  ;  even  as  to-day  a  popular  picture  — 
such  as,  to  take  an  example,  Rubens’s  Trinity  —  is  not  only 
copied  in  the  altar-pieces  of  the  churches  of  small  towns,  but 
is  more  or  less  recognizable  in  the  coarse  prints  which  in 


i66 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Catholic  countries  enliven  the  walls  of  the  most  humble 
cottages. 

Chief  among  the  vases  of  this  class  is  an  archaic  amphora, 
probably  of  Attic  manufacture,  found  at  Caere,  and  now  in 
the  Museum  of  Berlin.1  Upon  it  the  chief  figures  of  the 
Assos  relief  are  readily  to  be  distinguished  (Fig.  38).  So 
great  is  the  similarity  that  no  doubt  can  obtain  in  regard 
to  the  fact  that  both  of  these  representations  were  influenced 
by  some  common  model.  The  composition,  advancing  from 
left  to  right,  is  almost  exactly  the  same.  Herakles,  bending 
the  Scythian  bow,  strides  with  body  bent  forward,  the  ad¬ 
vanced  left  foot  flat  upon  the  ground,  while  the  right  is  par¬ 
tially  raised,  as  in  the  Assos  and  Karapanos  reliefs.  The 
retreating  centaurs  are  in  the  same  peculiar  position  as  those 
shown  upon  the  newly  discovered  block,  —  their  front  legs 
overlapping,  while  their  hind  legs  are  behind  those  of  their 
neighbors.  In  general  outline  the  likeness  is  quite  sufficient 
to  establish  the  point  in  question  ;  for,  in  a  comparison  of 
this  kind,  it  is  obviously  the  similarities,  and  not  the  differ¬ 
ences,  of  design  which  require  to  be  taken  into  consideration 
as  proof  of  a  relation  to  some  common  model.  When  these 
features  of  similarity  surpass  the  narrow  limits  of  chance 
resemblance,  the  fact  of  some  imitation,  conscious  or  un¬ 
conscious,  is  at  once  fully  established.  This  remains  true, 
whatever  may  be  the  variations  in  the  treatment  of  detail,  — 
dependent,  it  may  be,  upon  the  exigencies  of  the  space  to 
which  the  composition  is  adapted,  or  upon  the  individual 
taste  of  the  designer.  In  consideration  of  the  further  fact 
that  these  representations  are  not  supposed  to  have  been  de- 


1  Gerhard  (Eduard),  Auserlesette  Griechische  Vasenbilder,  Berlin,  1839-5S, 
vol.  ii.  pi.  1 19.  The  tracing  reproduced  above  (Fig.  38)  was  made  by  me  from 
the  vase,  for  the  purpose  of  this  illustration,  as  the  lithograph  given  by  Gerhard 
is  incorrect  in  certain  details. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


167 


rived  the  one  from  the  other,  but  from  a  third  and  still  more 
archaic  composition,  the  general  agreement  must  certainly  be 
admitted  to  be  surprisingly  close. 

Another  painted  vase,  representing  this  scene,  and  appa¬ 
rently  deriving  some  of  its  features  from  the  common  proto¬ 
type,  is  that  found  at  Akrai,  and  published  by  Judica.1  The 
figures  of  Herakles  and  his  antagonists  are  here  shown  in 
much  the  same  arrangement,  the  composition  being  likewise 
from  left  to  right.  One  detail,  altered  in  the  Caere  vase, 
is  here  preserved,  —  Pholos  standing  behind  the.  hero,  with 
arm  uplifted,  as  at  Assos.  Other  vase  paintings  of  this  type 
would  doubtless  be  found  on  examination  of  all  those  repre¬ 
senting  the  subject,  few  of  which  have  been  published  in 
plates,  or  are  distinctly  recognizable  from  the  short  descrip¬ 
tions  given  in  the  catalogues  of  the  various  collections.2 

1  Judica  (Gabriele),  Le  Antichita  di  Acre ,  Messina,  1819.' 

2  As  was  mentioned  in  the  First  Report  (p.  108,  note  1),  seventeen' antique 
illustrations  of  the  combat  of  Herakles  with  the  centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe  have 
been  quoted  by  Stephani,  Compte  Rendu ,  1873.  This  list  has  been  unquestioningly 
referred  to  as  correct  by  both  Colvin  and  Puchstein,  in  the  works  quoted  above, 
p.  142,  note  2,  and  p.  145,  note  1.  An  examination  of  these  representations  will, 
however,  make  it  evident  that  many  of  them  are,  in  reality,  not  at  all  referable  to 
the  subject.  Thus,  the  most  important  in  monumental  respects,  the  sculpture 
upon  the  Roman  sarcophagus  published  by  Braun  (Emil),  Sarcophago  rappresen- 
tante  Combattimento  tra  Ercole  e  Centauri ,  Monumenti  Inediti,  1855,  pi.  19,  which 
figures  as  No.  15  of  Stephani’s  list,  shows  one  of  the  centaurs  to  have  seized  upon 
a  woman,  one  of  whose  feet  and  some  folds  of  whose  drapery,  visible  upon  the 
shattered  side  of  the  coffer,  were  evidently  overlooked  by  the  learned  Russian 
archaeologist.  The  rape  thus  indicated  cannot  possibly  be  brought  into  connection 
with  the  combat  of  Herakles  with  the  centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe,  who  were  on  that 
occasion  attracted  solely  by  the  odor  of  the  liquor.  It  is  probable  that  the  sculp¬ 
tor  of  the  sarcophagus  has  illustrated  an  episode  from  the  wedding  of  Peirithoos, 
—  one  of  the  most  popular  subjects  of  ancient  art.  The  same  objection  is  appli¬ 
cable  to  the  bronze  of  Antoninus  Pius,  which  Stephani  cites  as  his  sixteenth  in¬ 
stance.  (Published  by  Foy-Vaillant  (Jean),  Selectiora  Numismata,  Parisiis,  1694, 
pi.  25;  Beger  (Laurentius),  Hercules  Ethnicorum ,  Berlin,  1705,  pi.  18;  Millin  de 
Grandmaison  (Aubin  Louis),  Galerie  Mythologique,  Paris,  1811,  pi.  195,  No.  437  ; 
Guigniault  (Joseph  Daniel),  Religions  de  V AntiquitS,  Paris,  1825-51,  pi.  170,  No. 
659;  Cohen  (Henri),  Description  Historique  des  Monnaies  frappees  sous  V Empire 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


1 68 


By  putting  these  various  indications  together  we  can  gain 
a  tolerably  definite  idea  of  the  characteristics  of  that  archaic 
work  of  art,  now  lost,  whose  fame  is  attested  by  so  many 
imitations.  The  general  outlines  of  its  composition,  and 
some  of  the  peculiarities  of  its  style,  are  clearly  recognizable, 
and  have  been  set  forth  at  sufficient  length.  In  other  re¬ 
spects  we  can  only  assert  that  the  original  representation 
occupied  a  field  much  longer  than  broad,  and  was,  in  all 
probability,  a  relief  composed  within  the  limits  of  some  archi¬ 
tectural  framework.  Ancient  writers  have  left  us  no  account 
of  any  works  of  Kritios  and  Nesiotes  representing  Herakles ; 
and  Furtwangler’s  identification  of  the  Karapanos  relief,  as 
derived  from  “  the  series  ”  of  those  artists,  should,  without 
doubt,  read  a  series. 

A  celebrated  work  in  relief,  representing  the  labors  of 
Herakles,  in  an  architectural  framework,  and  fully  answering 


Domain,  Paris,  1859-68,  vol.  ii.  p.  338,  No.  436.)  Here  also  a  centaur  is  shown 
carrying  off  a  woman,  —  perhaps  Homados  with  Alkyone,  the  sister  of  Eurys- 
theus,  as  identified  by  Guigniault.  In  this  case  the  objection  has  been  antici¬ 
pated,  but  by  no  means  fully  met,  by  Stephani,  who  errs  also  in  describing  the 
coin  as  silver.  With  the  representations  of  the  wedding  of  Peirithoos  we  have, 
furthermore,  to  class  the  red-figured  vase  published  by  Inghirami  (Francesco), 
Pitture  di  Vasi  Etruschi ,  Firenze,  1852-56,  2d  ed.,  vol.  i.  pi.  79,  and  Hugues 
(Pierre  Frangois),  Antiquites  Etrusques,  Paris,  17851  pb  124;  Stephani’s  list, 
No.  12.  The  fine  silver  vessel  now  in  Munich,  published  by  Arneth  (Joseph 
Calasanza  von),  Die  Antiken  Gold  und  Silbermonumente  des  k.  k.  Miinz,  und 
Antiken  Cabinettes  in  Wien ,  Wien,  1850,  pi.  S.  II,  Stephani,  No.  17,  also  does 
not  relate  in  any  way  to  the  legend  of  Herakles  and  Pholos,  merely  showing 
the  struggle  of  two  Fapithae  with  two  centaurs  before  an  image  of  Ares ;  and  the 
vase  published  by  Moses  (Henry),  A  Collection  of  Antique  Vases,  Altars,  Patera, 
Tripods,  Candelabra,  Sarcophagi,  etc.,  London,  1814,  pi.  1,  represents  Herakles 
between  two  centaurs,  with  nothing  to  identify  the  site  of  the  combat.  Still  an¬ 
other  of  Stephani’s  references  (No.  13,  quoting  Maximis,  Mus.  Etrusc.,  vol.  ii. 
pi.  77)  is  erroneous,  there  being  no  such  representation  shown  upon  the  plate  in 
question.  Several  of  the  rest  are  catalogue  entries,  so  vague  that  the  real  char¬ 
acter  of  the  scenes  depicted  upon  the  vases  cannot  be  fully  ascertained  there¬ 
from.  Even  taking  these  latter  into  account,  as  correctly  identified,  Stephani’s 
list  is  to  be  reduced  from  seventeen  to  eleven  examples. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


169 


the  requirements  of  the  case  in  point  of  date,  was  the  sculp¬ 
ture  of  the  temple  of  Athena  Chalkioikos  at  Sparta,  the  work 
of  Gitiadas.  We  learn  from  Pausanias1  that  these  reliefs, 
evidently  arranged  in  compartments  upon  the  wall,  repre¬ 
sented,  not  only  those  labors  which  Herakles  was  com¬ 
manded  to  perform  by  Eurystheus,  but  also  those  exploits 
in  which  the  hero  engaged  of  his  own  free  will.  In  the  latter 
category,  the  combat  with  the  centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe  can 
scarcely  have  been  lacking.  The  fame  of  the  decorations  of 
this  sanctuary  was  widely  extended  ;  for  instance,  coins  were 
struck,  not  in  Sparta  alone,  but  in  other  towns,  with  the 
type  of  the  sacred  effigy  preserved  within  the  building.2  But 
beyond  the  suggestion  that  a  connection  may  have  existed 
between  these  reliefs  and  those  of  Assos,  our  present  entire 
ignorance  concerning  the  artistic  style  of  Gitiadas  and  its 
relation  to  the  contemporary  work  of  Attica,  does  not  permit 
us  to  go. 

Little  remains  to  be  said  concerning  the  other  figures 
shown  upon  this  relief,  namely,  the  three  human-legged  cen¬ 
taurs  who  hasten  away  from  the  arrows  of  Herakles.  A 
general  description  of  them  has  been  given  in  the  First  Re¬ 
port,  and  the  chief  peculiarities  of  their  form  have  already 
been  discussed.  Although  evidently  the  work  of  another  hand 
than  the  horse-legged  centaurs,  they  display  indications  of 
having  been  imitated  from  one  and  the  same  model  with 
them.  The  arrangement  of  hair  and  beard,  and  of  hind  legs 
and  tail,  is  entirely  similar;  and,  in  particular,  the  position  of 
the  outstretched  arms  of  the  middle  centaur  upon  the  corner 
block  closely  resembles  that  of  the  others,  the  juncture  with 
the  body  showing  the  same  malformation  of  the  muscles, 

1  Pausanias,  III.  17.  3. 

2  Compare  Koner  (Wilhelm),  Darstellung  des  Standbildes  der  Athene  Chalki • 
oekos  zu  Lacedaemon,  in  Koehne’s  Zeitschrift  fur  Miinz,  Siegel  und  Wappenkunde, 
vol.  v.,  1845. 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


I  70 


while  the  thumbs  of  the  left  hand  are  turned  up,  and  those  of 
the  right  down,  in  the  same  way.  These  peculiarities  of 
agreement  are  the  more  remarkable,  because  of  the  great 
technical  superiority  and  general  correctness  of  form  notice¬ 
able  in  the  relief  now  first  published.  The  centaur  nearest 
to  Herakles,  turning  back  his  head  to  aim  his  missile,  holds  a 
stone  in  his  uplifted  right  hand  ;  the  foremost  bears  upon  his 
shoulder  a  thick  club,  —  these  being  the  weapons  with  which, 
according  to  the  legend,  the  centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe  carried 
on  the  combat.1 

Among  the  discoveries  of  the  second  year  is  the  fragment 
of  a  metope,  about  44  cm.  long  and  27  cm.  high,  represent¬ 
ing  the  hind  legs  of  a  running  centaur.  (Fig.  39.)  Being 
the  lower  left-hand  corner  of  the  slab,  it  shows  a  rebate,  in 
plan,  about  25  by  15  mm.,  cut  upon  that  side  of  the  stone 
which  was  to  be  hidden  behind  the  projecting  edge  of  the  ad¬ 
joining  triglyph.  A  fillet  7  cm.  broad  forms  a  plinth  for 
the  feet,  and  corresponds  to  the  tainia  upon  the  lower  edge 
of  the  epistyle  blocks.  This  emphasis  of  the  architectural 
framework  of  the  metopes  —  a  decided  drawback  in  ^esthetic 
respects,  as  it  cramps  the  field  available  for  sculptured  repre¬ 
sentations  —  is  an  archaic  feature,  omitted  entirely  from  the 

1  That  the  centaurs  were  armed  with  the  branches  of  trees  is  attested  by 
Hesiod  {Scut.  Here.,  188),  Pindar  [Frag.,  144,  ed.  Bergk),  Apollonios  Rhodios 
(Argon.,  I.  64),  Orpheus  (Argon.,  173),  Diodoros  (IV.  12.  5),  Apollodoros  (II.  5. 
4.  3),  and  Ovid  (Metam.,  XII.  507).  We  learn  fronj  the  three  authorities  last 
named  that  they  also  threw  stones. 

Upon  the  shield  of  Eurypylos,  described  by  Quintus  of  Smyrna  (Posthom., 
VI.  273),  the  centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe  were  represented  as  fighting  with  dubs, 
attacking  Herakles.  The  poet,  without  doubt  following  an  ancient  epic  proto¬ 
type,  says,  “  Some  were  shown  prostrate  upon  the  pines  which  they  grasped,  while 
others  still  carried  on  the  fight  with  like  weapons.” 

The  names  of  two  centaurs,  written  out  upon  a  vase  published  by  Gerhard 
(Eduard),  Etruskische  und  Kanipanische  Vasenbilder  des  Museums  zu  Berlin, 
Berlin,  1843,  pi.  13,  viz.  TAAI02  and  IIETPAI02,  are  evidently  derived  from  the 
wooden  club  and  the  rock  with  which  they  threaten  Herakles. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883.  I  7  I 

Theseion  and  Parthenon.  It  had,  however,  certain  practical 
advantages,  protecting  in  some  measure  the  raised  portions 
of  the  relief  from  being  split  away  during  the  process  of  lift¬ 
ing  and  setting  the  block,  and  is  more  tolerable  in  the  coarse 
stone  of  Assos  than  it  would  have  been  in  the  marble  of 
Attica. 

The  small  portion  of  the  figure  which  remains  is  perfectly 
sharp  and  free  from  weathering,  and  shows  the  sculpture  to 
have  been  executed  with 
much  care.  The  hoofs  and 
legs  are  in  the  conven¬ 
tional  position,  but  some¬ 
what  farther  apart  than 
any  of  those  represented 
upon  the  other  reliefs  of 
centaurs.  It  will  be  recol¬ 
lected  that  one  of  the  three 
metopes  removed  from  As¬ 
sos  to  the  Louvre  also  rep¬ 
resents  the  single  figure  of  a  centaur,  galloping,  with  a  club 
upon  his  shoulder.  The  hind  legs  shown  upon  the  newly  dis¬ 
covered  fragment  are  of  the  same  size  as  those  upon  the 
block  in  Paris.  It  is  hence  evident  that  this  metope  also  did 
not  contain  a  second  figure,  —  in  this  respect  differing  most 
disadvantageously  from  the  metopes  of  the  Attic  monuments 
before  mentioned. 

The  last  of  the  reliefs  found  during  the  second  year  which 
remains  for  our  consideration  is  a  fragment  of  the  heraldic 
sphinxes  once  decorating  the  western  front  of  the  temple. 
The  greater  part  of  the  other  sphinx  sculptured  upon  this 
epistyle  block  was  removed  from  Assos  by  the  French  in 
1835,  and  has  since  been  preserved  in  the  Louvre.  A 
second  fragment,  found  by  us  upon  the  surface  of  the 


Fig.  39.  Fragment  of  a  Metope. 
Hind  Legs  of  a  Centaur. 


172 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


earth,  where  it  had  apparently  been  seen  and  drawn  by 
Texier,  was  published  in  the  First  Report.1  The  third  frag¬ 
ment,  with  which  we  are  now  concerned,  contains  the  body 
and  wings  of  the  sphinx  upon  the  left-hand  side ;  it  com¬ 
pletes  the  sculptured  subject, —  the  panel  now  lacking  but 
a  small  portion  of  the  tainia,  split  from  the  second  fragment. 
(Fig.  40.) 

Before  going  further,  it  should  be  explained  that  the  fact 
of  this  relief  having  been  situated  above  the  central  inter- 
columniation  of  the  western  front,  and  not  in  the  correspond¬ 
ing  position  of  the  eastern  front,  can  be  determined  from  the 
lengths  of  the  half-regulas  cut  upon  the  ends  of  these  blocks, 
which,  together  with  those  adjoining,  must  have  exactly  made 
up  the  total  widths  of  the  triglyphs  above  them.  As  has 
been  already  set  forth,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
epistyle  block  sculptured  with  the  four  centaurs,  found  dur¬ 
ing  the  second  year,  was  placed  next  to  the  relief  of  Herakles 
and  Pholos,  and  consequently  adjoined  one  of  these  sphinx 
reliefs  upon  the  left-hand  side.  Now  the  half-regula  upon 
the  right-hand  end  of  the  relief  of  the  four  centaurs  is  ex¬ 
ceptionally  long,  namely,  33  cm.,  and  cannot  have  been  com¬ 
plementary  to  the  corresponding  moulding  upon  the  newly 
discovered  sphinx,  which  is  itself  27  cm.  long.  It  agrees 
entirely,  however,  with  the  space  remaining  for  a  half-regula 
upon  the  shattered  end  of  the  other  sphinx  block,  discovered 
during  the  first  year,  and  published  in  the  First  Report  as 
Plate  16.  We  are  thus  as  fully  justified  in  assigning  these 
heraldic  reliefs  to  the  front  and  rear  of  the  building,  respect¬ 
ively,  as  we  are  in  the  assumption  that  the  four  centaurs 
formed  a  continuation  of  the  file  retreating  before  the  bow¬ 
man  Herakles.  They  will  hence  be  distinguished  as  the 
eastern  and  western  sphinxes. 

1  Preliminary  Report,  p.  115,  pi.  19. 


FIG. 41.  HERALDIC  SPHINXES,  EASTERN  FACADE 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


173 


It  is  interesting  to  compare  the  sculpture  of  this  epistyle 
from  the  less  important  fagade,  to  which  our  newly  discov¬ 
ered  fragment  appertains,  with  that  of  its  pendant  from  the 
front  of  the  building.  A  glance  at  the  photogravures  of  the 
two  reliefs  (Figs.  40,  41)  will  suffice  to  show  that  the  figures 
were  executed  from  the  same  design,  but  by  different  hands, 
differing  widely  in  technical  skill.  The  variations  in  position 
manifestly  resulted  from  the  sphinxes  being  framed  in  panels 
of  unequal  dimensions,  that  of  the  front  measuring  less  than 

2.5  m.,  while  that  of  the  rear  was  considerably  more  than 

2.6  m.  in  length.  The  sculptor  of  the  latter  placed  his  fig¬ 
ures  quite  as  near  to  the  ends  of  the  block  as  they  were  in 
the  former,  the  entire  difference  in  length  falling  between 
the  heads  and  breasts  of  the  animals.  Thus  the  fore  legs 
of  the  western  sphinxes  were  disproportionately  lengthened, 
while  the  angle  of  their  elevation  was  correspondingly  de¬ 
creased.  It  was  without  doubt  in  conformity  with  this 
change  of  angle  that  the  wings  were  made  to  lie  somewhat 
lower  upon  the  back.  With  these  exceptions,  the  outlines  of 
the  two  reliefs  are  almost  identical. 

In  modelling,  however,  the  sphinxes  of  the  west  are  de¬ 
cidedly  inferior  to  those  of  the  east.  Although  projecting 
quite  as  far  from  the  background,  they  yet  appear  flat  and 
undefined,  —  betraying  in  technical  respects  a  more  marked 
influence  of  the  sphyrelaton  style.  The  western  relief  is,  in¬ 
deed,  an  especially  good  example  of  that  clumsiness  of  form 
in  the  masses,  the  protuberances  being  of  basket-shaped 
rather  than  of  oval  section,  and  of  that  angular  and  strap¬ 
like  rendering  of  the  details,  so  indicative  of  a  practice  of 
beaten-metal  work  in  which  the  sculptors  of  Assos  weie  evi¬ 
dently  versed.  The  curves  of  trunk  and  haunch  arc  not  so 
true  to  nature  as  in  the  eastern  sphinxes,  while  the  edges  of 
the  relief  are  too  thick  and  cushion-like  to  permit  of  the 


l7\ 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


rotundity  of  the  body  being  effectively  rendered.  Thus  the 
fine  gradations  of  light  and  shade  within  the  outlines  of  the 
figures  are  almost  entirely  lost.  The  thigh-bone  does  not 
project  sufficiently  from  the  flank,  the  hind  legs  are  too 
weak  and  thin,  the  tail  too  little  prominent  and  too  sharply 
curved.  In  short,  the  western  sphinxes  are  of  a  dull  and 
heavy  sleekness,  while  those  of  the  east  are  sinewy  and 
vigorous.  Although  the  main  outlines  are,  as  before  said, 
substantially  identical,  there  are  still  slight  differences  in  the 
curves  and  relative  positions  of  the  members.  Even  if  we 
suppose  the  design  to  have  been  transferred  to  the  surface 
of  the  stone  from  an  original  cartoon  by  a  tracing,  or  other 
mechanical  means,  there  must  have  remained  a  certain  scope 
for  the  sculptor  to  display  his  taste  and  technical  skill. 

A  noticeable  deviation  in  the  western  sphinx  from  the  forms 
of  the  eastern  is  the  decorative  scalloping  of  the  outer  edges 
of  the  wings.  More  important  and  less  successful  are  the 
straightening  and  flattening  of  the  outlines  of  the  belly, 
through  which  much  of  the  grace  and  force  of  the  original 
has  been  lost  It  is  evident  that  the  architect  or  artistic 
superintendent  of  the  decoration  of  the  temple  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  relative  abilities  of  the  sculptors  work¬ 
ing  under  his  directions,  and  assigned  the  execution  of 
those  reliefs  which  were  to  be  placed  upon  the  front  of  the 
building  to  the  more  intelligent  and  skilful  hands. 

We  may  even  venture  the  supposition,  that  the  less  pro¬ 
ficient  sculptor  of  the  western  sphinxes  was,  as  compared 
with  his  rival,  an  artist  of  the  old  school,  clinging  to  con¬ 
ventional  methods.  As  has  already  been  pointed  out,  the 
style  of  the  sphyrelatQn  is  more  apparent  in  his  work,  while 
the  wings  are  scalloped  in  conformity  with  a  highly  archaic 
decorative  practice.  Another  feature  of  much  interest,  lead¬ 
ing  to  the  same  conclusion,  is  the  shape  assigned  to  the  termi- 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


175 


nation  of  the  vertical  shaft  upon  which  the  sphinxes  rest  their 
uplifted  paws,  and  which  marks  the  centre  of  the  symmetrical 
composition.  In  the  relief  from  the  rear  of  the  building  this 
termination  has  the  form  of  an  archaic  Ionic  capital  with 
upright  volutes,  —  an  architectural  member  which  was  cer¬ 
tainly  antiquated  at  the  period  to  which  we  must  assign  the 
execution  of  these  sculptures.  The  outline  of  the  volutes 
and  of  the  anthemion  surmounting  them  is  clearly  indicated, 
and  there  still  remain  upon  the  weathered  surface  of  the 
stone  traces  of  the  engraved  spiral  lines  which  mark  the  con¬ 
volutions  of  the  helix.  The  member  thus  represented  is  of 
precisely  the  same  shape  and  proportion  as  the  proto-ionic 
capital,  found  by  the  writer  upon  the  site  of  Neandreia,  in  the 
interior  Troad,  and  described  in  a  separate  publication  of  the 
Archaeological  Institute.1  The  significance  of  this  form  in  * 
architectural  history  has  been  fully  discussed  in  that  connec¬ 
tion.  In  regard  to  its  place  in  the  composition  of  this  relief 
it  will  suffice  to  observe  that  the  heraldic  sphinxes  of  Assos 
rest  their  paws  upon  a  diminutive  proto-ionic  stele,  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  heraldic  lions  of  Mykenai  face  a  small 
column  having  proto-Doric  characteristics. 

This  arrangement  was  a  common  one  in  every  age  of 
Oriental  art,  and  has  by  some  historians  been  directly  re¬ 
ferred  to  an  Asiatic  origin.  We  may  trace  it,  in  examples 
too  numerous  to  mention,  from  Assyria  and  the  highlands  of 
Asia  Minor,  through  Phoenicia  and  Cyprus,  to  Attica  and  the 
Peloponnesos.  It  had  certainly  been  adopted  by  the  Greeks 
at  a  period  long  anterior  to  the  building  of  the  temple  of 
Assos,  appearing  not  only  above  the  gate  of  Mykenai,  but  in 
many  ornaments  of  precious  metal  found  in  the  still  more 
ancient  sepulchres  of  that  citadel,2  and  among  the  remains 

1  Clarke,  Proto-Ionic  Capital ,  fig.  2. 

2  Schliemann,  Mycetux ,  Nos.  175,  264-266,  274,  279,  480,  and  539. 


176 


ARCH ALO LOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


unearthed  at  Menidi  in  Attica.1  Sphinxes  and  griffins  with 
uplifted  paws,  in  precisely  the  same  attitude  and  relative 
position  as  those  of  Assos,  occur  upon  the  well-known 
Francois  vase,2  and  are  frequently  to  be  observed  upon  vessels 
of  the  early  Corinthian  style. 

The  archaic  Ionic  capital  with  upright  volutes  —  evidently 
a  favorite  in  the  Troad  and  its  neighborhood,3  whence  the 


majority  of  the  known  ex¬ 
amples  have  been  derived  — 
finds  still  another  illustra¬ 
tion  among  the  minor  dis¬ 
coveries  at  Assos,  which 
may  appropriately  be  no¬ 
ticed  in  this  connection. 
The  object  in  question  is  a 
fragment  of  a  terra-cotta 


vessel,  apparently  the  han- 


Portion  of  the  Handle  of  a  large  Jar  found  at  Assos. 


boldly  modelled,  the  anthe- 
mion,  too  small  a  feature  to  be  fully  indicated,  being  replaced 


by  a  knob-like  abacus.  The  spiral  lines  of  the  volutes  are 


deeply  ploughed  out  with  some  pointed  instrument.  Scrolls 
and  abacus  are  lightly  touched  with  a  white  pigment,  the  sur¬ 
face  of  the  red  clay  being  elsewhere  covered  with  a  dull  red 
priming.  The  decorative  effect  of  the  detail  is  striking  ; 

1  Deutsches  arckdologisckes  Institut.  Das  Kuppelgrab  bei  Menidi.  Ausgrab- 
ungsbericht  von  H.  C.  Lolling.  Athen,  1880. 

2  Mon.  Ined.,  vol.  iv.  Roma,  1844-48,  pis.  liv.,  lv. 

3  Shortly  after  the  discovery  upon  the  site  of  Neandreia,  Ionic  capitals  with 
upright  volutes  were  found  upon  the  coast  of  Lesbos,  opposite  the  Troad. 
These  capitals  have  not  as  yet  been  published,  but  they  are  referred  to  by 
Puchstein  (Otto),  Das  Ionische  Capitell.  Siebenundvierzigstes  Programm  zum 
IVinckelmannsfeste  der  Archaologischen  Gesellschaft  zu  Berlin.  Berlin,  1887, 


P-  55- 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883.  I  77 

and,  though  slight  in  execution,  it  is  evidently  the  work  of 
a  skilled  hand.  The  fragment  is  now  in  the  Museum  at 
Boston,  and  is  numbered  P.  4121. 

In  regard  to  the  fragment  of  a  sphinx  from  the  western 
front  of  the  temple,  among  the  reliefs  removed  from  Assos 
to  the  Louvre  in  1 S 3 5 >  it  should  be  remarked  that  the  litho¬ 
graph  published  in  the  Monumenti  errs  in  omitting  the  up¬ 
lifted  paw.1  The  engraving  given  by  Clarac  2  makes  good  this 
defect,  while  the  accompanying  text  supplies  us  with  an  all 
too  elaborate  explanation  of  the  significance  of  these  mythi¬ 
cal  animals  in  this  connection.  As  types  of  intelligence  and 
perspicacity,  Clarac  holds  that  the  sphinxes  have  reference  to 
the  story  of  Proteus,  with  whom  he  would  identify  the  marine 
monster  of  another  relief,  and  are  to  be  taken  as  significant 
of  the  astuteness  displayed  by  the  hero  Menelaos  in  over¬ 
coming  the  wiles  of  this  prophetic  old  man  of  the  sea.  In  the 
exposition  of  this  view  Clarac  draws  a  parallel  between  the 
feat  of  Menelaos  in  discovering  Helen  in  her  Egyptian  re¬ 
treat,  and  that  of  Oedipus  in  solving  the  riddle  of  the  The¬ 
ban  sphinx,  even  going  so  far  as  to  suggest  that  the  latter 
episode  may  have  been  represented  upon  the  walls  of  the 
temple  of  Assos.  We  could  scarcely  point  out  a  more 
striking  instance  of  the  far-fetched  interpretations,  based 
merely  upon  vague  suppositions,  which  were  in  favor  among 
classical  scholars  as  recently  as  the  middle  of  the  present 
century. 

The  researches  of  more  modern  archaeologists  have  thrown 
so  clear  a  light  upon  the  wide  scope  of  the  mythical  repre¬ 
sentations  of  the  sphinx,  and  its  general  use  in  this  form 

1  Monumenti  Inediti  pubblicaii  delV  Istituto  di  Correspondent  archeologica,  vol. 

iii.  Roma  e  Parigi,  1839-43,  pi.  34-  _  .. 

2  Clarac,  Musk  de  Sculpture  antique  et  moderne.  Paris,  1841,  tome  11.  seconde 

partie. 


12 


i  ;8 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


by  ancient  decorators,  —  whether  Mesopotamian,  Egyptian, 
Syrian,  or  Greek,  —  that  we  need  no  longer  thus  grope  after 
some  episodical  connection  in  order  to  justify  the  appearance 
of  the  sphinx  among  the  Assos  reliefs.  As  will  presently  be 
shown,  a  sphinx,  in  later  ages  generally  transformed  to  a  grif¬ 
fin,  was  the  heraldic  symbol  —  the  coat  of  arms,  as  it  would 
to-day  be  termed  —  of  Assos.  It  was  on  this  account  that 
these  figures,  in  heraldic  position  and  duplication,  were  sculp¬ 
tured  above  the  main  entrances  to  that  sanctuary  which  was 
dedicated  to  the  guardian  deity  of  the  town.  Apart  from  this, 
in  its  independent  significance,  we  need  seek  in  this  symbol 
nothing  beyond  those  characteristics  of  supernatural  force, 
wisdom,  and  ever-blooming  youth  which  were  ascribed  by 
popular  belief  to  the  sphinx  as  a  combination  of  the  bodily 
forms  of  the  strongest  animal  of  the  earth,  the  strongest  bird 
of  the  air,  and  the  intelligent  head  of  a  human  being.  These 
picturesque  attributes  of  mysterious,  almost  demonic  power, 
seem  to  have  been  gradually  connected  with  the  sphinx 
through  the  observation  of  a  definite  image,  which  had  itself 
arisen  through  the  agglutinative  methods  of  heraldry,  rather 
than  to  have  been  originally  based  upon  any  specific  tradi¬ 
tion.  Among  the  ancients,  no  composite  form  was  more 
widely  known,  none  more  frequently  employed.  From  that 
oldest  Egyptian  sphinx,  the  Colossos  of  Gizeh,  a  work  of  the 
fourth  dynasty,  and  from  the  winged  Assyrian  sphinxes  of 
the  palace  of  Esarhaddon  (681-668  b.  c.),  we  may  trace  the 
migration  of  the  monster,  and  the  development  of  the  various 
types  of  its  representation  in  every  part  of  the  ancient  world, 
and  in  every  age  of  ancient  history.  The  original  home  of 
the  human-headed  and  lion-bodied  sphinx  seems  to  have 
been  Egypt.  In  the  demonology  of  Mesopotamia  the  form 
was  never  of  more  than  secondary  importance.  The  Assyrian 
images  always  bear  a  foreign  stamp,  more  or  less  distinct. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1S83. 


179 


The  winged  type  seems,  however,  to  have  been  derived  from 
Assyrian  art  by  the  Greek  designers  of  the  archaic  period, 
and  in  the  lack  of  direct  communication  we  are  led  to  seek 
for  some  intermediate  stage  of  development  and  transference. 
This  can  have  taken  place  only  upon  those  southeastern 
coasts  of  the  Mediterranean  where  the  hieratic  forms  of  both 
Egyptian  and  Mesopotamian  art  were  blended  in  merely 
decorative  types,  free  from  all  fetters  of  religious  symbolism. 
It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  the  favorite  subjects  of  Hittite 
and  Phoenician  decorators  were  constantly  repeated  in  every 
branch  of  Greek  art-workmanship,  during  the  archaic  period, 
and  were  retained  long  thereafter  in  distant  Etruria.  The 
hybrid  art  of  Phoenicia,  so  widely  disseminated  through  the 
commerce  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  is,  without  doubt,  responsible 
for  the  introduction  of  the  sphinx  to  Greek  culture.  Beyond 
the  recognition  of  this  fact,  it  is  for  the  present  scarcely 
possible  for  us  to  go  ;  the  threads  of  artistic  history  which 
from  the  tenth  to  the  seventh  century  before  Christ  con¬ 
nected  the  civilization  of  Phoenicia  with  that  of  Asiatic  and 
European  Hellas  are  so  inextricably  entangled  that  we  cannot 
attempt  to  assign  to  the  races  of  Cyprus  and  southern  Asia 
Minor,  more  closely  allied  to  the  Greeks,  their  direct  contri¬ 
butions  to  the  transformation  and  introduction  of  this  ancient 
form.  We  may  recognize  in  the  sphinxes  of  Euyuk 1  a 
transitional  stage,  —  a  link  between  the  sphinxes  of  Nimroud  2 
and  those  of  archaic  Spata3  and  Etruscan  Vulci,4  —  but  we 
are  as  yet  far  from  possessing  even  so  clear  and  succinct  a 

1  Perrot  (George),  Exploration  Archeologique  de  la  Galatie  et  de  la  Bithynie,d'  une 
Partie  de  la  Mysie,  de  la  Cappadoce  et  du  Pont ;  executee  en  1861.  Paris,  1862-72, 
pi.  65-67. 

2  Layard  (Austin  Henry),  The  Monuments  of  Nineveh,  vol.  i.  London, 
1849,  Pi-  44- 

8  Milchhofer,  in  the  Mittheilungen  des  deutschen  archdologischen  Institute 
vol.  iv.  Athen,  1879. 

4  Micali  (Giuseppe),  Monumenti  Inediti.  Firenze,  1844,  pi.  v. 


i8o 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


history  of  the  artistic  development  of  this  form  as  we  have, 
for  instance,  in  the  case  of  the  similar  evolution  of  the  Ionic 
capital. 

It  is  only  certain  that  in  the  sphinxes  of  Assos  we  have 
already  to  deal  with  a  fully  developed  type,  determined  by 
long  familiarity  with  the  composite  form.  The  wings, 
rounded  and  bent  forward  at  the  tips,  are  of  a  peculiar  shape, 
frequently  met  with  in  the  oldest  black-figured  vase  paint¬ 
ings.  This  conformation,  most  excellent  in  decorative  effect, 
however  much  at  variance  with  all  natural  wings,  whether  of 
feathers  or  membranes,  is  evidently  the  result  of  two  distinct 
tendencies.  In  the  first  place  it  was  necessary  to  adapt  the 
projecting  members  to  the  panels  upon  which  such  figures 
were  drawn  or  sculptured.  Thus  it  became  particularly  im¬ 
portant  that  the  wings  should  rise  but  little  above  the  crown 
of  the  head,  which  was  to  be  made  as  prominent  as  possible. 
In  the  second  place,  the  conventionalization  of  the  forms  of 
the  living  model  for  the  purposes  of  decorative  design  made 
itself  particularly  felt  in  such  irregular  terminations  as  the 
tips  of  wing  feathers.  As  the  wings  of  the  most  ancient 
Mesopotamian  and  Syrian  sphinxes  and  griffins  are  not  thus 
rounded,  this  improvement  is  undoubtedly  to  be  ascribed  to 
that  Greek  genius  for  conventionalization  which  everywhere 
left  its  mark  upon  the  material  borrowed  from  the  East. 
The  beginnings  of  the  change  in  formation  are  to  be  traced 
upon  many  painted  vases  and  sherds  of  the  early  Rhodian 
style,  as  well  as  upon  some  few  Phoenician  works,  referable 
to  the  period  when  the  art  of  that  country  was  influenced  by 
Hellenic  traditions  and  methods. 

In  various  other  details  already  referred  to,  both  reliefs 
bear  the  stamp  of  that  well  trained  yet  somewhat  conven¬ 
tional  school  of  archaic  design  which  in  remote  and  provincial 
parts  of  the  ancient  world  but  shortly  preceded  the  highest 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883.  l8l 

development  of  sculpture  in  Attica  and  the  Peloponnesos,  or 
was  even  contemporary  with  it.  The  very  type  and  the  du¬ 
plication  of  the  sphinxes  adopted  as  the  coat  of  arms  of  Assos 
are  not  infrequently  met  with  in  other  parts  of  the  ancient 
world  during  the  archaic  period.  The  design  on  the  Fran¬ 
cois  vase  has  already  been  referred  to,  and,  to  name  another 
example,  a  tripod  vase  recently  discovered  at  Tanagra,  and 
now  in  the  Museum  of  Berlin,1  shows  couchant  sphinxes  face 
to  face,  in  almost  exactly  the  same  position  as  those  sculp¬ 
tured  above  the  entrances  to  the  temple  of  Assos.  In  the 
Troad  itself,  such  figures  were  naturally  favorite  subjects 
with  the  painters  of  vases  and  the  modellers  of  figurini. 
Two  sherds  of  decorated  vessels,  showing  the  heads  and 
wings  of  sphinxes  of  this  design,  have  been  found  among  the 
Greek  remains  of  Hissarlik,2  the  first  being  a  fragment  of 
hand-made  ware.  The  second  of  these  heads,  in  particular, 
is  much  like  those  of  the  Assos  sphinxes  ;  the  hair  is  arranged 
in  a  similar  manner,  aftd  bound  by  a  tainia,  which,  after 
encircling  the  forehead,  falls  behind  the  wings  in  the  same 
way  as  the  fillet  upon  our  reliefs.  Among  the  earlier  dis¬ 
coveries  at  Hissarlik3  was  the  figurine  of  a  sphinx  squatting 
upon  its  haunches,  in  form  and  position  exactly  resem¬ 
bling  the  sphinx  sculptured  upon  one  of  the  metopes  of 
the  temple  of  Assos,  now  in  the  Louvre.  To  these  may 
be  added  seven  further  examples  of  squatting  and  couching 
sphinxes,  found  by  Calvert  in  various  parts  of  the  Troad. 
Among  these  the  most  striking  parallel  to  the  figures  of 
the  Assos  reliefs  is  the  sphinx  painted  on  a  sherd  found 

1  Loschcke  (Georg ),  Dreifussvase  aus  Tanagra,  in  the  Archaologische  Zeitung, 
Berlin,  1881. 

2  Schliemann,  Ilios,  figs.  1432  and  1434.  The  former  of  these  now  bears  the 
number  2379  in  the  collection  at  Berlin. 

3  Schliemann,  Trojanische  Alterth'umer.  Atlas.  Leipzig,  1874,  no.  3362.  This 
figurine  is  now  numbered  2433  in  the  collection  at  Berlin. 


I§2 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


upon  the  ancient  site  of  Ophrynion  1  (Fig.  43).  The  figure 
here  shown  might  almost  pass  as  a  direct  copy  of  the  couch- 
ing  sphinxes  of  the  Assian  reliefs,  so  close  is  the  resem¬ 
blance.  We  may  notice  the  same  fillet-bound  hair,  falling  in 
a  convex  curve,  the  same  bordering  tainia,  the  same  wings 
bent  forward  at  the  ends,  and  membered  by  a  rib  at  the  con¬ 
ventionalized  juncture  between  flesh  and  feathers,  the  same 
doubly  curved  turn  of  the  tail,  and,  in  particular,  the  same 


Fig.  43.  Couching  Sphinx  on  Sherd  from  Ophrynion. 


excessive  emphasis  of  the  rising  curve  of  the  belly,  which 
along  its  entire  length  is  arched  above  the  ground  in  exagger¬ 
ation  of  the  natural  appearance  of  recumbent  animals.  The 
painting  upon  this  sherd  is  mainly  dark  brown  upon  a  light 
red  ground,  the  pigment  being  applied  very  thinly.  Another 
color  makes  its  appearance  in  the  fleshy  part  of  the  wing, 
between  neck  and  wing  feathers,  this  being  of  a  dull  deep 
red,  similar  to  dragon’s  blood.  The  length  of  the  sherd 
is  1 5  cm. 

1  Near  Erenkieui,  between  the  sites  of  Troy  and  Abydos.  Compare  Virchow, 
Alt-Trojanische  Gr'dber  und  Schadel.  Berlin,  1882. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


183 


A  resemblance  nearly  as  close  is  observable  between  the 
squatting  sphinx  of  one  of  the  metopes  of  the  Assos  temple, 
before  referred  to,  and  a  figurine  from  Aqkieui,  identified  by 
Calvert  as  the  site  of  Berytis  (Fig.  44).  This  small  image, 
1 1  cm.  high,  is  formed  of  a  light  red  clay,  hollowed  within, 
and  primed  with  a  slip  of  grayish  black.  It  is  carefully  and 
intelligently  modelled,  belonging  to  the  same  category  as  the 


fig-urine  from  Hissarlik,  before  re- 
ferred  to,  and  as  another,  somewhat 
ruder,  image  of  a  sphinx  found  by 
Calvert  at  Bounarbashi  (Lecheva- 
lier’s  Troy).  Almost  the  only  dif¬ 
ference  between  this  form  of  the 
sphinx  and  that  shown  upon  the 
Assos  metope  is  the  high  head-gear, 
of  Oriental  appearance,  which  is 
seen  upon  the  Berytis  figurine,  but 
could  not  find  place  in  the  low 
frieze  of  the  temple.  The  list  of 
sphinxes  discovered  in  the  Troad  by 
Calvert  further  includes  four  speci¬ 
mens  on  black-figured  sherds  from 
Akshi-Kieui,  the  site  of  the  later 
(Hellenic)  Thymbra. 

Turning  now  from  the  coat  of 
arms  of  Assos  as  it  appears  among  the  ornamental  sculptures 
of  the  chief  sanctuary  of  the  town,  to  the  heraldic  symbol 
stamped  upon  the  coins,  from  the  earliest  to  the  latest  Assian 
mintage,  we  are  at  once  struck  by  the  fact  that  in  the  latter 
case  the  image  of  a  griffin  is  substituted  for  that  of  the  sphinx. 
In  formation  and  position  the  bodies  of  the  two  mythical 
animals  are  precisely  alike,  but  upon  the  coins  the  head  of  a 
human  being  is  exchanged  for  that  of  an  eagle. 


Fig.  44.  Squatting  Sphinx. 
Figurine  from  Aqkieui. 


184  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 

It  is  perhaps  impossible  to  adduce  a  decisive  reason  for  this 
change  of  type.  The  most  probable  explanation  which  the 
writer  is  able  to  advance  is,  that  the  coins  of  Assos,  circu¬ 
lating  widely  throughout  the  Troad,  were,  from  the  first,  im¬ 
printed  with  a  griffin  in  order  to  distinguish  them  from  the 
coins  of  another  town  of  the  province.  Upon  the  coins  of 
Gergis,  a  sphinx  forms  the  symbol  of  the  obverse.  References 
by  ancient  writers  to  matters  of  this  kind  are  extremely  rare, 
but  the  fact  of  its  appearance  upon  the  Gergithian  coinage 
is  specially  mentioned  by  Stephanos  of  Byzantion.1  The  an¬ 
tiquity  of  Gergis,  renowned  as  a  stronghold  of  the  Teucrians,2 
and  as  the  native  place  of  one  of  the  Sibyls,  is  beyond  ques¬ 
tion,  and  the  fact  that  it  was  one  of  the  first  towns  of  the 
Troad  to  establish  a  mint  is  attested  by  the  archaic  coins 
preserved  in  all  large  collections.  Thus  no  difficulty  stands 
in  the  way  of  the  assumption  that  coins  of  Gergis,  bearing 
the  image  of  the  sphinx,  had  been  issued  prior  to  the 
emission  of  coins  by  Assos.  The  adoption  of  this  symbol 
would  naturally  have  precluded  its  repetition  elsewhere  in 
the  Troad.  Every  precaution  would,  moreover,  be  taken 
to  prevent  the  confusion  of  the  coinages  by  the  country 
folk,  inasmuch  as  the  values  of  the  Gergithian  pieces  were 
based  upon  a  different  standard  from  that  adopted  by  the 
Assians.3 

Brandis  is  certainly  justified  in  speaking  of  the  griffin  as 
das  eigentliche  Stadtwappen  of  the  city,  but  he  is  at  fault  in 
assuming  that  the  Assians  did  not  issue  coins  before  the 
fourth  century.  Coins  of  an  archaic  series,  probably  dat¬ 
ing  from  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  are  to  be  found  in 
most  of  the  numismatical  cabinets  of  Europe,  under  various 

1  Stephanos  of  Byzantion,  s.  v.  Tepyis. 

2  Herodotos,  V.  122,  VII.  43. 

Brandis  (Johannes),  Deis  A[iinz-}  Mass*  mid  Gewichtswesen  in  Torderasiett, 
bis  auf  Alexander  den  Grossen.  Berlin,  1866,  pp.  310,  313. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


185 


classifications.  They  bear  upon  the  reverse  a  lion’s  head  in 
an  incuse  square,  and  upon  the  obverse  a  couching  griffin. 
The  discovery,  during  our  excavations,  of  a  coin  of  this  type 
with  the  inscription  AHH,  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  the  true 
attribution.  In  the  British  Museum  the  rearrangement  of 
the  coins  of  Assos  thus  indicated  has  already  been  made. 

The  form  of  the  griffin  stamped  upon  the  oldest  known 
coins  of  this  series  is  shown  in  Figure  45  A.  We  here  see  a 
creature  precisely  like  the  sphinx  of  the  temple  reliefs,  ex¬ 
cepting  that  the  head  is  that  of  an  eagle.  So  close  is  the 
resemblance  of  the  body  in  attitude  and  modelling,  that  we 
are  tempted  to  believe  that  the  die-cutter  intentionally  fol¬ 
lowed  the  design  so  familiar  to  Assians  from  its  prominent 
position  among  the  sculptures  of  their  temple.  The  action 
of  the  fore  legs  is  the  same :  the  nearer  one  lying  extended 
on  the  ground,  the  one  beyond  being  so  uplifted  as  to  rest 
against  the  circular  framework  of  the  coin,  in  place  of  the 
upright  support.  The  belly  rises  in  the  same  compressed 
curve ;  the  hip  is  similarly  salient.  In  like  manner,  the  tail 
has  the  single  turn,  and  the  wings  are  rounded  at  the  ends 
and  bent  forward  at  the  tips,  being  bordered  along  the  fore 
edge  by  that  fillet  which  may  be  regarded  as  a  convention¬ 
alized  and  elongated  representative  of  the  wing-bone.  The 
short  head,  on  the  other  hand,  is  that  of  the  oldest  known 
type  of  Greek  griffin.  Its  features  are  peculiar,  and  in  part 
unnatural.  The  mouth  is  widely  opened,  the  lower  jaw  being 
disproportionately  long ;  so  long,  indeed,  that  if  closed  it 
would  project  much  beyond  the  hooked  beak.  The  pro¬ 
truding  tongue  curves  upward ;  the  outline  of  the  jawbone 
is  prominently  indicated.  The  one  ear  visible  is  a  formida¬ 
ble  appendage,  entirely  foreign  to  bird  nature,  and  rather 
resembling  that  of  a  hare.  It  stands  erect,  as  if  in  excite¬ 
ment  and  vigilance.  A  further  abnormal  addition  appears 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


186 

in  the  shape  of  a  knobbed  projection,  rising  from  the 
centre  of  the  skull,  just  above  the  large  round  eye.  This 
projection  is  perhaps  a  reminiscence  of  the  single  horn 
upon  the  lion-headed  proto-griffins  of  Mesopotamia.1  It 
effectively  enhances  the  energetic  and  defiant  aspect  of  the 
monster. 

In  all  these  details  the  head  closely  resembles  the  fine 
archaic  bronze  discovered  at  Olympia,2  which  is  sketched 
in  Figure  45  B.  On  comparing  this  and  the  representa¬ 
tion  upon  the  Assian  coin,  certain  features  of  the  latter 
which  might  otherwise  have  appeared  inorganic  and  inex¬ 
plicable  are  made  clear.  Thus,  it  is  evident  that  the  down¬ 
ward  curve  of  the  lower  jaw,  which,  as  before  mentioned, 
could  not  possibly  fit  into  the  beak  if  closed,  is  derived 
from  an  exaggeration  of  the  similarly  curved,  but  too  short, 
lower  jaw  of  some  head  similar  to  the  Olympian  bronze. 
Another  point  of  the  same  character  is  the  strap-like  con¬ 
ventionalization  of  the  swollen  cheek-pouch,  which  results 
upon  the  coin  in  a  distinct  line,  running  downwards  from 

1  Witness  the  figure  upon  the  relief  of  a  small  temple  near  the  palace  of 
Nimroud,  referable  to  the  age  of  Assurnasirpal  (885-860  B.  c.).  Layard,  Monu¬ 
ments  of  Nineveh,  second  series,  London,  1853,  pi.  5  ;  and  Discoveries  in  the 
Ruins  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon,  (Second  Expedition,)  London,  1853,  p.  348  et  seq. 
Compare  Perrot  and  Chipiez,  Histoire  de  1' Art  dans  VAniiquiti,  Vol.  II.  Assyrie, 
Paris,  1883,  p.  408.  The  horn  appears  upon  similar  images  of  archaic  coins 
of  Asia  Minor  (ascribed  to  Miletos)  referable  to  the  seventh  century  ( Numis¬ 
matic  Chronicle,  new  series,  vol.  xv.,  London,  1875,  pi-  viii. ),  and  upon  the  lion’s 
head  of  the  Kroisos  mintage  (Head,  Barclay  Vincent,  A  Guide  to  the  Principal 
Gold  and  Silver  Coins  of  the  Ancients,  pi.  i.).  Furtwangler  (s.  v.  Gryps,  in 
Roscher’s  Lexikon  der  Griechischen  und  Romischen  Mythologie,  Zehnte  Lieferung, 
Leipzig,  1886)  is  inclined  to  ascribe  the  adoption  of  this  feature  in  the  head  of 
the  griffin  to  the  Ionian  Greeks  of  the  Asiatic  coast. 

2  Ausgrabutigen  zu  Olympia,  pi.  xxvii.  This  head  is  the  most  perfect  repre¬ 
sentative  of  a  distinctly  pronounced  and  widely  known  type.  Among  other 
examples  of  the  same  form  may  be  mentioned  that  shown  by  Salzmann  (Au¬ 
guste),  Nicropole  de  Camiros,  Paris,  1S75,  pi.  43,  and  two  in  the  Museum  of 
Berlin,  Nos.  2935  and  1023. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883.  187 

the  eye,  and  gradually  approaching  the  outline  of  the 
jawbone. 

Furtwangler1  has  shown  this  peculiar  form  of  griffin’s 
head  to  have  been  developed  by  Greek  designers  from  the 
Phoenician  image  of  the 
monster.  He  maintains 
that  the  open  mouth, 
with  curved  and  pro¬ 
jecting  tongue,  is  a  spe¬ 
cifically  Greek  device, 
referable  to  the  seventh 
century  before  Christ. 

The  form  of  the  griffin 
which  appears  upon  the 
earliest  known  coins  of 
Assos  thus  belongs  to 
a  distinctly  pronounced 
and  widely  known  archaic  type.  The  appearance  of  this 
type,  so  different  from  that  in  general  use  throughout  the 
Greek  world  at  the  period  when  this  coinage  was  issued, 
may  with  good  reason  be  considered  as  the  retention  of  a 
still  older  stamp,  and  thus  be  held  to  indicate  the  employ¬ 
ment  of  the  griffin  during  the  sixth  century  side  by  side 
with  the  sphinx,  and  perhaps  interchangeably  with  it,  as  the 
civic  symbol.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  certain  that  in  all 
representations  of  this  kind  upon  the  coins  of  Assos  the 
image  of  the  griffin  is  exclusively  adopted. 

Upon  Assian  coins  of  subsequent  issues  the  form  of  the 
griffin  is  that  which  is  known  to  have  been  employed  in  Euro¬ 
pean  Greece  as  early  as  the  fifth  century  before  Christ,  and 
which  continued  in  vogue,  without  material  alteration,  until 

1  Furtwangler  (Adolf),  Die  Bronzefunde  aus  Olympia  utid  derett  kunst- 
geschichtliche  Bedeutung.  Berlin,  1880. 


Fig.  45.  A,  Archaic  Coin  of  Assos. 

(Enlarged  two  and  a  half  diameters.) 

B,  Bronze  Head  of  Griffin,  found 
at  Olympia. 


1 88 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


the  latest  ages  of  classic  art.  (Fig.  46.)  The  unnatural  ap¬ 
pendages,  top-knot  and  upright  ears,  are  here  omitted,  their 
place  being  taken  by  a  jagged  comb.  The  entire  head  has 
been  so  lengthened  and  flattened  as  more  closely  to  resemble 
that  of  a  bird.  The  wings  are  turned  backward,  and  divided 
along  their  entire  length  into  distinct  feathers.  The  tail  is 
often  flung  into  the  air  in  a  double  curve.  A  curious  remi¬ 
niscence  of  the  older  griffins  and  sphinxes  is  retained  in  the 

farther  fore  leg,  which,  though 
not  supported  by  a  stele,  or 
pressed  against  the  framework  of 
the  coin,  is  lifted  aimlessly  in  the 
air.  As  the  anatomist  recognizes 
the  derivation  of  one  species  of 
animal  from  another  in  the  exist¬ 
ence  of  rudimentary  and  useless 
muscles,  so  also  may  the  student 
of  decorative  forms  trace  the 
development  of  one  type  from 
another  by  the  appearance  of 
features  such  as  these,  otherwise  inexplicable. 

With  the  exception  of  a  single  variety,  presently  to  be  re¬ 
ferred  to,  this  form  of  the  griffin  remained  unaltered  until  the 
latest  ages  of  Assian  mintage,  even  appearing  upon  coins 
which  bear  the  heads  of  Tiberius  and  Claudius.  It  is  how¬ 
ever  to  be  remarked,  that  on  such  imperial  coins  the  griffin, 
which  in  earlier  ages  invariably  faces  to  the  left,  is  occasion¬ 
ally  turned  to  the  right. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  third  century  before  Christ  a 
temporary  fashion  completely  altered  the  stamp  of  the  Assian 
coinage,  and  led,  as  before  mentioned,  to  the  adoption  of  a 
griffin  of  entirely  different  appearance.  The  head  of  Athene 
upon  the  obverse,  previously  in  profile,  here  turns  to  three- 


Fig.  46.  Coin  of  Assos. 

(Enlarged  two  diameters.) 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


189 


quarters  face  ;  the  griffin  upon  the  reverse  arises  from  his 
recumbent  position,  and  strides  upon  all  fours.  (Fig.  47.)  A 
striding  griffin  of  this  form  appears  upon  contemporary  coins 
of  the  neighboring  town 
of  Phokaia,  and  evidently 
served  as  model  to  the  die- 
cutter  of  this  Assian  series. 

A  single  issue  only  seems 
to  have  been  made  of  this 
novel  type,  the  mintage  im¬ 
mediately  afterwards  revert¬ 
ing  to  the  accustomed  im¬ 
ages.  We  are  enabled  to 
assign  an  approximate  date 
to  this  experiment  through 
the  close  resemblance  of 
the  three-quarters  face  of 
Athene,  which  appears  upon  the  obverse,  to  the  head  upon 
a  coin  of  Antiochus  I.  (b.  c.  280-262).1 

It  is  not  possible  to  advance  an  entirely  adequate  explana¬ 
tion  of  the  reasons  which  led  to  the  temporary  abandonment 
of  the  time-hallowed  Assian  type,  but  we  may  be  permitted 
to  assume  that  it  was  due  to  those  political  motives  which 
were  of  so  great  importance  in  this  age  of  the  fusion  and 
centralization  of  the  Greek  states  of  Asia  Minor.  The 
change  in  the  civic  symbol  may  have  been  brought  about 
through  agents  of  one  of  the  earlier  rulers  of  Pergamon,  with 
the  intention  of  breaking  down,  in  this  as  in  many  other 
ways,  the  autonomous  spirit  of  a  town  destined  to  be  annexed 
to  that  kingdom.  From  the  first  revolt  of  Philetairos  (b.  c. 
283)  the  Pergamene  dynasty  had  made  its  influence  felt  on 

1  Gardner  (Percy),  The  Seleucid  Kings  of  Syria.  London,  1878,  pi.  iv. 
no.  12. 


Fig.  47.  Coin  of  Assos. 

(Enlarged  two  and  a  third  diameters.) 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


190 

the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Adramyttion,  rapidly  extending  its 
power  throughout  the  Troad  by  reason  of  the  services  it 
rendered  in  repelling  the  continual  inroads  of  the  Gauls. 
The  absolute  dominion  of  Eumenes  and  Attalos  must  have 
been  preceded  by  many  such  attempts  to  counteract  the  indi¬ 
vidual  and  separatist  spirit  of  towns  which  clung  obstinately 
to  the  rights  of  local  independence.  In  few  matters  was 
this  conservative  feeling  of  the  Greek  citizen  more  strongly 
evinced  than  in  the  unaltering  retention  of  the  civic  symbol 
upon  coins,  as  indicated  by  the  archaic  character  of  many 
Greek  mintages.  An  entire  change  of  the  Assian  symbol  per¬ 
haps  being  found  impracticable,  something  might  at  least  be 
effected  by  altering  the  design,  and  assimilating  it  to  that  of 
a  town  upon  the  farthermost  confines  of  the  advancing  state. 
This  town,  Phokaia,  had  originally  been  a  stronghold  of  the 
Ionians,  and  it  was  in  the  interest  of  the  cosmopolitan  power 
at  Pergamon  to  break  down  the  distinctions  of  race,  as  well  as 
the  tenacious  hold  of  autonomous  feeling. 

A  highly  remarkable  combination  of  the  forms  of  the  two 
varieties  of  griffin  which  appear  upon  the  Assian  coinage, 
namely,  the  couching  and  the  upright  or  striding,  is  met  with 
in  the  figures  of  a  mosaic  pavement  of  a  building  unearthed 
in  the  lower  town.  This  building,  which  stood  in  close  com¬ 
munication  with  the  Agora,  was  evidently  employed  for  some 
administrative  purpose,  and  was  therefore  ornamented  with 
the  civic  symbol.  It  is  situated  at  a  distance  of  only  23  m. 
from  the  Bouleuterion,  but  on  a  much  lower  level,  access  be¬ 
ing  provided  to  it  from  the  market-place  by  a  subterranean 
passage  and  staircases,  designated  J  J  upon  the  general  plan 
of  this  quarter  of  the  town,  and  shown  in  section  upon  the 
drawing  of  the  western  facade  of  the  Bouleuterion.  The 
edifice  forms  a  quadrangle  of  12.6  by  5.4m.,  and  is  divided 
into  two  rooms  of  unequal  size,  the  larger  and  easternmost 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


191 

of  which,  paved  with  the  mosaic,  has  a  clear  space  of  6.3  by 
4.6  m.  That  the  building  was  not  a  dwelling  or  shop,  but 
was  devoted  to  the  transaction  of  some  public  business,  is 
evident  from  the  entire  lack  of  fireplaces,  as  well  as  from  the 
simple  division  of  the  plan,  and  the  character  of  the  interior 
decoration.  The  masonry  is  substantial,  but  exceedingly 
rough,  having  been  hidden  from  view  by  a  revetment  of 
plaster,  painted  with  brilliant  colors,  which  will  be  described 
in  detail  in  a  subsequent  chapter.  The  southern  wall,  to¬ 
gether  with  the  terraced  street  upon  this  side,  has  been  en¬ 
tirely  destroyed, —  carried  away  by  the  masses  of  earth  and 
debris  which,  falling  from  the  Bouleuterion  and  other  build¬ 
ings  upon  a  higher  lev.el,  deeply  buried  the  re-entering  angle 
of  the  rooms,  and  left  the  masonry  upon  the  north  standing 
to  a  height  of  from  1.2  to  0.5  m.  Traces  of  an  entrance 
doorway  from  the  street  are,  however,  still  to  be  perceived 
near  the  eastern  end  of  the  southern  wall,  from  which  side 
the  chambers  must  have  been  lighted  through  windows.  As 
the  hillside  is  particularly  steep  at  this  point,  almost  the  en¬ 
tire  plan  of  the  structure  had  to  be  quarried  from  the  native 
rock,  which  is  here  of  a  bright  red  color,  resembling  ochre, 
and  is  occasionally  used  as  a  pigment  by  the  Turks  of 
Behram.  Specimens  of  this  material  are  preserved  in  the 
Museum  at  Boston,  under  the  number  S.  1155.  The  pave¬ 
ment  was,  in  part,  laid  directly  upon  the  quarried  surface  of 
the  native  rock.  The  flooring  consists  of  a  thick  substratum 
of  mortar,  upon  which  the  mosaic  pattern  is  formed  by 
rounded  pebbles  of  various  colors,  imbedded  in  a  fine  cement. 
The  lime  of  this  cement  was  mixed  with  minute  particles  of 
pounded  brick,  for  the  purpose  of  diminishing  the  brightness 
of  the  white  background  visible  between  the  pebbles, —  a  mode 
of  preparation  known  to  Roman  builders  as  opus  signinuin d 

1  Vitruvius,  II.  4.  3.  Columella,  I.  6.  12. 


192 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Leopard-headed  Griffins. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


193 


A  plain  border,  one  meter  in  width,  formed  of  mixed  light 
gray  and  olive-green  pebbles,  surrounds  the  central  pattern, 
which  occupies  an  oblong  measuring  4.3  by  2.66  m.  This 
pattern  itself,  shown  in  Figure  48,  consisted  of  two  borders 
of  considerable  width,  separated  by  narrow  white  bands,  and 
surrounding  a  central  field  which  measures  2.53  by  0.89  m. 
The  outermost  border,  51  cm.  wide,  contains  upon  each  side 
two  griffins  face  to  face;  the  inner  border,  22cm.  wide,  a 
wave  ornament  with  large  scrolls  of  many  convolutions. 
The  central  field  was  broken  away  in  so  great  part  that 
it  was  not  possible  to  make  out  the  subject  represented 
therein.  It  is  only  certain  that  brilliant  colors,  red,  yel¬ 
low,  and  white,  were  here  employed  in  comparatively  broad 
surfaces  on  a  dark  green  background. 

The  outermost  and  broadest  border  —  our  interest  in  the 
subject  of  which  has  led  to  the  consideration  of  the  mosaic 
in  this  connection  —  is  fairly  well  preserved  throughout  one 
half  of  its  extent.  Almost  everywhere  the  background  of 
dark  olive-green  was  found  to  have  held  together  better  than 
the  figures,  and  in  several  patches  where  the  pebbles  had 
been  broken  away  the  pattern  could  still  be  traced  by  the 
impressions  left  on  the  bed  of  mortar  and  the  cement  of  the 
interstices.  Every  detail  of  the  two  griffins  upon  the  longer 
side  remaining  was  thus  clearly  recognizable. 

The  monsters,  alike  in  formation  and  posture  of  body,  are 
dissimilar  in  their  heads,  the  one  having  the  crest,  elongated 
skull,  beak,  and  wattles  of  a  bird,  the  other  a  head  resem- 
bling  that  of  a  leopard  or  lioness,  with  widely  open  mouth 
and  protruding  tongue,  and  with  curiously  conventionalized 
horns  and  beard.1  It  will  be  recollected  that  similar  pairs 

1  Furtwangler  (s.  v.  Gryps,  in  Roscher)  has  pointed  out  that  the  Greeks  derived 
this  horned  panther-headed  or  lion-headed  type  of  the  griffin  from  the  Persians, 
who  in  their  turn  had  taken  it  from  the  Chaldean  image  of  Tiamat,  the  enemy 
of  the  gods.  Compare  the  characterization  of  this  monster  given  by  Delitzsch, 

13 


194 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


of  eagle-headed  and  leopard-headed  griffins  appear  among 
the  sculptured  decorations  of  the  temple  of  Miletos,1  and 
formed  favorite  subjects  in  later  ages.2  The  feathered  wings, 
turning  slightly  forward  at  the  tips,  are  similar  to  those  of 
the  griffins  represented  upon  the  more  common  coins  of 
Assos,  while  the  farther  fore  legs  are  uplifted  in  the  air  like 
those  of  the  sphinxes  sculptured  upon  the  temple:  this  imi¬ 
tation  of  the  posture,  while  omitting  the  supporting  stele, 
resulting  in  the  same  aimless  and  inorganic  character  which 
has  been  noticed  in  the  corresponding  feature  of  the  coins. 
The  hind  legs,  on  the  other  hand,  are  erect  and  striding,  like 
those  shown  upon  these  coins,  which,  as  before  said,  belong 
to  the  first  half  of  the  third  century  before  Christ.  The  tail, 
abnormally  long  and  thin,  is  flung  into  the  air  in  a  graceful 
curve.  So  fine  is  the  execution  of  the  mosaic  that  even  such 

Wo  lag  das  Parodies  ?  Leipzig,  iSSl,  p.  88.  A  sufficient  number  of  Meso¬ 
potamian  and  Persian  representations  of  the  figure  have  been  quoted  by  Furt- 
wangler.  This  lion-headed  and  horned  griffin  undoubtedly  found  its  way  to  the 
northern  coasts  of  the  Aegean  by  way  of  Lycia,  where  it  appears  upon  coins 
assigned  to  the  first  half  of  the  fifth  century  B.  c.  (Gardner,  Percy,  Types  of 
Greek  Coins,  Cambridge,  1883,  pi.  iv.,  and  Fellows,  Charles,  Coins  of  Ancient 
Lycia  before  the  Reign  of  Alexander,  London,  1855,  pi-  xi.),  as  well  as  upon 
mintages  of  later  date. 

1  Chandler  (Richard),  Ionian  Antiquities,  London,  1769,  vol.  iii.  pi.  vii.-x. 
Rayet  et  Thomas,  Milet  et  le  Golfe  Latmique,  Fouilles  et  Explorations  Arche- 
ologiques,  Paris,  1877,  pi.  17,  49-51. 

2  Eagle-headed  and  leopard-headed  griffins  form  pendants  upon  the  reliefs 
of  one  of  the  fine  bronze  helmets  found  in  the  Caserma  dei  Gladiatori  at 
Pompeii  (Niccolini,  Fausto  e  Felice,  Le  Case  ed  i  Monumenti  di  Pompeii, 
Napoli,  1854,  fasc.  19,  tav.  ii.  2,  and  ii.  7),  upon  the  vase  of  Xenophan- 
tos  (Gille  and  Stephani,  Antiquites  du  Bosphore  Cimmerien,  St.  Petersbourg, 
1854,  pi.  45,  46),  upon  a  vase  in  the  Museum  of  Berlin  (Gerhard,  Eduard, 
Neuerworbene  antike  Denkmaler  des  kbniglichen  Museums  zu  Berlin,  Berlin, 
1836-40,  vol.  iii.  no.  1791),  and  in  a  wall-painting  (Zahn,  Wilhelm,  Die  schbn- 
sten  Ornamente  und  merkwurdigsten  Gemalde  aus  Pompeji,  Herkulaneum  und 
Stabice,  Berlin,  1828-56)  and  on  a  marble  table  of  Pompeii  (Niccolini,  Case  e 
Monumenti,  fasc.  vi.).  They  are  likewise  common  upon  Roman  sarcophagi ; 
compare  Zoega  (Georg),  Abkandlungen,  herausgegeben  .  .  .  von  T.  G.  Welcker, 
Gottingen,  1817,  and  Guattani  (Giuseppe  Antonio),  Monumenti  Antichi, 
Roma,  1785,  tav.  iii. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


J95 


small  details  as  the  claws  are  distinctly  indicated.  In  ar¬ 
tistic  respects  the  design  of  the  griffins  is  exceedingly  good. 
They  are  drawn  with  a  clear  understanding  of  animal  move¬ 
ment, —  see  the  outstretched  hind  leg,  and  the  swell  of  the 
muscles  in  all  parts  of  the  body,  —  as  well  as  with  a  full 
appreciation  of  the  principles  of  conventionaliasm.  A  trained 
skill  is  likewise  displayed  in  the  adaptation  of  the  figures  to 
the  exacting  methods  of  mosaic-work.  Thus,  while  there  is 
no  attempt  to  give  roundness  to  the  limbs  by  shading,  the 
concave  curve  of  the  wing  and  the  distance  of  the  farther 
hind  leg  are  ingeniously  indicated  by  means  of  darker  local 
tints.  The  outlines  are  everywhere  vigorous  and  graceful. 
These  griffins  rank  among  the  finest  works  of  ancient  mo¬ 
saic  known,  and  are  without  doubt  to  be  assigned  to  that 
period  in  which  this  branch  of  art  attained  its  very  highest 
development. 

Between  the  griffins,  and  in  the  corners  of  the  border, 
are  six-pointed  stars,  of  the  shape  familiar  to  all  who  have 
amused  themselves  with  striking  arcs  from  centre  to  centre 
with  a  fixed  radius.  It  is  with  figures  such  as  these  that 
modern  carpenters  delight  to  decorate  architectural  drawings 
intrusted  to  their  care.  There  is  a  singular  fascination  to 
the  human  mind  in  this  use  of  a  pair  of  compasses,  —  so 
accurately  can  the  periphery  of  a  circle  be  divided  with  six 
strokes  of  the  opening  by  which  it  was  generated.  The 
mechanical  and  inartistic  character  of  these  ornaments  does 
not,  however,  stand  in  contradiction  to  the  antique  spirit  of 
design.  The  same  six-pointed  star  appears  not  infrequently 
upon  Greek  vases,  and  is  to  be  seen,  in  monumental  execu¬ 
tion,  upon  the  sacred  buildings  of  Eleusis. 

Enough  remains  of  the  griffins  upon  the  shorter  sides  of 
the  border  to  make  it  apparent  that  they  were,  pair  by 
pair,  precisely  like  those  already  described.  The  dotted  line 


196 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


A  A  (Fig.  48)  indicates  the  longitudinal  axis  of  the  pattern, 
and  will  convey  an  idea  of  the  proportions  of  the  whole.  The 
fore  legs  and  claws  of  one  of  the  griffins  beyond  this  line  will 
be  perceived  upon  the  left-hand  side.  The  monster  shown 
upon  the  right-hand  side  of  the  drawing  has  an  eagle’s 
head.  The  corresponding  feature  of  the  griffin  upon  the 
left  has  been  almost  entirely  obliterated,  yet  from  curved 
lines  above  it,  undoubtedly  representing  the  peculiar  crooked 
horns,  we  may  safely  conclude  it  to  have  been  that  of  the 
quadruped. 

This  altogether  unnatural  combination  of  the  typical  out¬ 
stretched  and  uplifted  fore  legs  with  erect  and  striding  hind 
legs  —  that  is  to  say,  with  conventional  forms  which  elsewhere 
appear  only  during  the  early  ages  of  Pergamene  supremacy  — 
leads  to  the  supposition  that  the  mosaic  was  executed  during 
the  third  century  before  Christ.  All  other  indications  to  be 
gathered  concerning  the  age  of  the  pavement  and  the  build¬ 
ing  which  contained  it  are  in  entire  agreement  with  this 
view.  Apart  from  the  artistic  style  of  the  design  itself,  the 
chief  argument  for  this  date  is  the  close  relation  of  the  edifice 
to  the  Agora,  known  to  be  a  creation  of  the  Pergamene  period. 
There  is  thus  little  doubt  that  we  have  in  the  fine  figures 
of  the  mosaic  a  further  evidence  of  that  period  of  the  monu¬ 
mental  renaissance  of  Assos.  It  was  under  this  dynasty  that 
figured  mosaics,  which  had  previously  been  restricted  to  sa¬ 
cred  edifices,  were  generally  extended  to  profane  buildings.1 
A  civic  hall  such  as  this  would  naturally  have  been  among 
the  first  of  the  latter  class  to  profit  by  this  extension.  The 
flinty  pebbles  are  deeply  worn,  and  must  have  been  trod¬ 
den  under  foot  for  generations.  Although  not  restored,  the 
figured  pavement  may  even  have  remained  in  sight  until 

1  See  upon  this  point  Becker  (Wilhelm  Adolph),  Charikles,  neubearbeitet 
von  Hermann  Goell,  Berlin,  1877,  vol.  ii.  p.  143,  with  the  ancient  authorities 
there  quoted. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


19  7 


the  Christian  era.  Moreover,  the  hall  continued  to  be  used 
for  a  considerable  period  after  the  mosaic  had  been  con¬ 
demned  as  no  longer  serviceable,  for  it  was  found  to  be 
covered  with  other  floorings  of  plain  stucco,  the  removal  of 
which  from  the  surface  of  the  design  was  a  work  of  some 
difficulty. 

The  fact  that  the  conventional  colors  of  the  griffins,  as  well 
as  their  forms,  are  indicated  in  the  mosaic,  permits  us  to  con¬ 
sider  them  from  another  point  of  view,  rarely  to  be  obtained 
in  relation  to  ancient  works  of  art,  and  peculiarly  interesting 
when  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  the  conclusions  thus  derived 
are  without  doubt  directly  applicable  to  the  polychromatic 
treatment  of  similar  subjects  in  sculpture.  All  the  back¬ 
grounds  of  the  patterns,  as  also  the  pavement  outside  the 
design,  were  formed,  as  has  been  said,  of  grayish  green  peb¬ 
bles,  shading  from  a  tint  such  as  that  shown  by  the  inner 
side  of  an  olive  leaf  to  an  almost  perfect  black.  The  darkest 
of  these  pebbles  were  selected  for  the  background,  so  that 
the  general  effect  of  this  was  much  deeper  and  more  solid 
than  that  of  the  outer  border. 

The  bodies  of  the  griffins  themselves  were  of  round  whitish 
gray  pebbles,  of  two  distinct  shades.  It  is  apparent  that  an 
attempt  was  thus  made  to  indicate  the  spots  which  were  at¬ 
tributed  to  the  griffins  by  ancient  mythographers.  Pausanias 1 
describes  these  markings  as  similar  to  those  of  a  leopard, 
an  animal  still  common  in  Asia  Minor,  and  it  may  well  be 
that  the  substitution  of  the  head  of  a  leopard  for  that  of 
an  eagle  was  thus  rendered  more  natural.  An  indication 
of  such  spots  may  be  observed  upon  various  other  works 
of  ancient  art.2 

1  Pausanias,  VIII.  2.  7. 

2  For  instance,  upon  the  highly  remarkable  Etruscan  relief,  published  by 
Braun  (Emil),  Pitture  Etrusche  Vulcenti,  Annali  dell'  Instituto  di  Corrispondenza 
Archeologtca ,  Rome,  1859,  an<^  figured  in  the  Monument!  Inediti ,  vol.  vi.,  Roma, 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


198 

The  wings  are  of  a  very  light  bluish  gray,  edged  along  the 
front  line  of  the  bone  with  a  bright  yellow.  The  same  yel¬ 
low  appears  upon  the  beards,  as  well  as  upon  the  crest  of 
the  eagle-headed  and  the  horns  of  the  lion-headed  monster. 
The  beak  of  the  former  and  the  tongue  of  the  latter  are  of  a 
brilliant  red  jasper.  Fragments  of  the  mosaic  showing  these 
colors,  as  well  as  illustrating  the  method  of  adjoining  the 
separate  stones,  are  preserved  in  the  Museum  at  Boston 
(No.  in).  In  general,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  mosaic- 
work  of  the  figures  is  composed  of  carefully  selected  stones, 
finer  and  smoother  in  texture  than  those  of  the  background, 
as  well  as  brighter  and  clearer  in  color. 

The  prevalent  white  tint  of  the  bodies  of  the  griffins  is  in 
accordance  with  the  descriptions  of  the  traditional  colors  of 
these  monsters  given  by  ancient  writers.1  It  may  likewise  be 
observed,  that  in  the  rare  specimens  of  ancient  vase  paintings, 
where  a  number  of  pigments  are  employed  on  which  griffins 
are  represented,  their  bodies  are  white.  Upon  a  vase  pub¬ 
lished  by  Jahn,2  the  resemblance  of  the  colors  to  those  of 
our  mosaic  is  very  close,  the  wings  of  the  griffin  being  blue, 
while  the  rest  of  the  body  is  white.  The  same  colors  appear 
upon  the  well  known  painted  vase  of  Xenophantos,3  and  upon 
the  fragments  of  an  antique  wooden  sarcophagus,4  as  well  as 

1S57-63,  as  well  as  in  Des  Vergers  (A.  Noel,)  L'Etrurie  et  les  Etrusques,  dix 
Ans  de  Fouilles  dans  les  Maremmes  Toscanes,  Paris,  1862,  vol.  iii.  pi  27.  Com¬ 
pare  also  the  Pompeian  helmet  referred  to  in  a  preceding  note. 

1  Concerning  the  conceptions  of  the  ancients  in  respect  to  the  conventional 
colors  of  griffins,  compare  Aelian,  De  Nat.  Anim.,  IV.  27,  quoting  from  Ktesias 
and  preserving  the  fragment  of  the  Indica  numbered  xxvi.  in  Lion’s  edition. 
Aelian  is  in  turn  followed  in  the  mediaeval  tract  De  Anim.  Propr.  of  Manuel 
Philes,  II.,  ed.  Pauw,  p.  15.  A  different  description,  altogether  at  variance  with 
the  colors  of  our  mosaic,  is  given  by  Ktesias,  Ind .,  xii. 

2  Jahn  (Otto),  Ueber  bemalte  Vasen  mit  Goldschmuck,  Leipzig,  1865,  pi.  15. 
No.  29. 

3  Stephani,  Antiquites  du  Bosphore  Cimmerien,  pis.  45.  46. 

4  Published  in  the  same  work,  pi.  84.  Further  examples  are  supplied  by 
various  painted  sherds  found  in  the  same  locality.  PI.  70  A. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


199 


upon  various  less  important  keramic  specimens,  too  numer¬ 
ous  to  mention.  Great  stress  should  not,  however,  be  laid 
upon  this  point,  as  the  instances  of  a  different  usage  are 
common  ;  witness  the  red  and  dark  green  plumage  of  two 
inedited  sphinxes  in  the  Barbakion  and  Central  Museum  of 
Athens.  It  is  possible  that,  as  the  specimens  referred  to 
would  tend  to  show,  the  Asiatic  and  the  Kuropean  usages 
differed  in  this  particular. 

The  appearance  of  the  sphinx  above  the  main  entrance  to 
the  temple  of  Assos  led  to  the  remark  that  the  figure  of  this 
monster  may  have  been  employed  interchangeably  with  that 
of  the  griffin  as  the  symbol  of  the  city.  This  assumption 
derives  further  support  from  the  appearance  of  the  sphinx,  in 
its  characteristic  crouching  position,  upon  an  engraved  seal 
discovered  at  Assos.  The  gem  in  question,  broken  from  the 
setting  in  which  it  had  originally  been  secured,  was  found 
among  the  debris  of  the  lower  town  by  a  peasant  of  Behram, 
some  years  before  the  arrival  of  the  American  explorers.  It 
was  purchased  from  the  custom-house  official  of  the  little  port 
by  the  present  writer,  who,  after  mounting  it  in  a  gold  ring, 
copied  from  an  antique  of  about  the  same  age  and  character, 
gave  it  to  the  Museum  of  Boston,  where  it  is  preserved  under 
the  number  S.  1020. 

The  stone  is  a  carnelian,  —  a  material  much  more  highly 
prized  in  ancient  than  in  modern  times.  It  is  worthy  of  note 
that  Pliny1  particularly  mentions  Assos  as  one  of  the  two 
places  in  the  Greek  world  whence  were  derived  supplies  of 
carnelian,  described  by  him  under  the  name  Sarda.  The 
geological  researches  of  the  expedition  did  not  lead  to  the 
discovery  of  any  deposit  of  this  stone  in  the  vicinity  of  Assos, 
and  it  appears  probable  that  the  carnelians  known  to  the 
ancients  as  Assian  were  merely  brought  into  commerce  from 

1  Pliny,  Nat.  Hist.,  XXXVII.  31,  ed.  Delph. 


200 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


this  port,  and  were  found  at  some  place  in  the  interior  Troad 
where  the  formation  is  not  of  a  volcanic  origin. 

The  gem  is  of  an  oval  shape,  measuring  12  mm.  on  its 
longer  axis,  and  is  but  slightly  convex.  The  intaglio  engrav¬ 
ing  upon  it  (Fig.  48a)  is  carefully  executed,  being  decidedly 
superior  to  the  average  work  of  the  class  to  which  it  belongs. 
With  exception  of  the  farther  fore  leg,  which  is  not  uplifted, 
and  of  the  tail,  which  is  thrown  straight  up  into  the  air,  the 
attitude  is  that  of  the  sphinx  sculptured  upon  the  epistyle  of 


Fig.  48“.  Heraldic  Sphinx  upon  engraved  Seal  found  at  Assos. 

(From  the  Impression.  —  Enlarged  six  diameters.) 

the  temple.  The  wings,  fully  feathered,  turn  backwards  like 
those  upon  the  later  coins  of  Assos.  The  female  breasts  are 
distinctly  indicated.  Evident  reminiscences  of  the  archaic 
image  of  the  Assian  sphinx  are  to  be  seen  in  various  details, 
such  as  the  modelling  of  the  haunch,  and  the  fillet  binding 
the  head  and  falling  upon  the  shoulders,  as  well  as  in  the 
general  position.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  gem 
was  engraved  with  definite  reference  to  the  civic  symbol 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


201 


of  Assos.  We  cannot,  indeed,  adduce  direct  proof  that  the 
seal  was  actually  used  in  this  significance  by  city  authorities, 
but  there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  the  case  to  render  this 
view  unlikely.  'The  identity  of  the  words  employed  by  the  an¬ 
cients  for  coat  of  arms  and  seal  ring  (or  the  use  of  the  same 
root,  as  in  the  Latin  signum  and  sigillum )  shows  that  the  fun¬ 
damental  idea  of  such  an  image  was  heraldic  ;  and  there 
can  scarcely  be  a  doubt  that  seals  bearing  the  symbol  or  de¬ 
vice  of  a  boar  were  made  use  of  not  infrequently.  There 
is  thus  an  entire  agreement  between  the  ancient  and 
the  mediaeval  usage  in  this  respect,  and  it  may  well  be 
that  we  have  become  possessed  of  an  actual  seal  of  the 
Greek  city. 

We  are  reminded  by  this  gem  of  one  of  the  most  interest¬ 
ing  episodes  in  the  history  of  the  town.  When  Hermeias, 
tyrant  of  Assos  and  Atarneus,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Persians  (b.  c.  345),  his  enemies  possessed  themselves  of  his 
ring,  and  by  sending  letters  bearing  the  impression  of  its  seal 
to  the  governors  left  in  charge  of  those  towns  beguiled  them 
into  giving  up  the  citadels  and  garrisons,  under  the  belief 
that  an  amicable  arrangement  had  been  effected  between 
King  Artaxerxes  and  their  former  ruler.1  We  may  imagine 
this  ring  of  Hermeias  to  have  borne  the  image  of  the  sphinx, 
inasmuch  as  the  rulers  of  such  small  states  commonly 
adopted  for  this  purpose  the  symbol  which  they  stamped 
upon  their  coins.2 

1  Diodoros,  XVI.  52. 

2  It  may  be  mentioned  as  a  coincidence,  that  the  Emperor  Augustus  likewise 
employed  seal  rings  bearing  the  image  of  a  sphinx,  two  of  which  he  had  found 
among  the  jewels  of  Atia  (Pliny,  Nat.  Hist.,  XXXVII.  4,  ed.  Delph. ;  Suetonius, 
Octav.,  I.;  Dion  Cassius,  LI.  3).  In  the  absence  of  the  Emperor  from  Rome, 
during  the  civil  wars,  his  agents  were  authorized  to  use  the  duplicate  to  seal 
official  documents  which  had  to  be  sent  from  the  capital.  Pliny  informs  us  that 
it  was  a  common  jest  among  those  who  received  such  edicts  that  this  sphinx 
was  ever  the  bearer  of  some  enigma.  On  account  of  this  mockery,  Augustus 
subsequently  exchanged  the  sphinx  upon  his  seal  for  another  image. 


202 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


The  interchangeable  employment  of  sphinxes  and  griffins 
as  the  heraldic  symbols  of  Assos,  surprising  as  it  appears  at 
first  sight,  is  thus  to  be  traced  in  the  Hellenistic  as  well  as 
in  the  archaic  period.  While,  on  the  one  hand,  we  have  a 
parallel  between  the  oldest  coins  of  the  town  and  the  coat  of 
arms  sculptured  above  the  entrances  to  the  temple,  on  the 
other,  we  have  the  figures  of  the  civic  hall  and  of  the  seal 
ring.  Even  a  cursory  examination  into  the  relations  between 
the  sphinx  and  the  griffin,  intimate  in  all  ages  of  antiquity,1 
will  fully  explain  this  interchange.  We  may  even  recognize 
in  it  a  constant  tendency. 

In  mythological  significance,  griffin  and  sphinx  were  most 
closely  allied,  and  in  that  conventional  artistic  usage  with 
which  we  are  at  present  concerned  they  were  often  regarded 
as  actually  identical.  The  fundamental  idea  in  both  is  that 
of  a  supernatural,  irresistible  force,  ascribed  to  these  mon¬ 
sters  because  of  their  combining  the  characteristic  features 

1  The  parallelism  between  sphinx  and  griffin  formed  the  subject  of  learned 
investigations  as  early  as  the  of  time  Turnebus  (Adrianus),  Adversariorum , 
vol-  iii.,  Basileae,  1581,  x.  62;  xxiii.  26;  xxiv.  23.  It  has  been  treated  at  great 
length  by  Voss  (Johann  Heinrich),  Mythologische  Briefe ,  Stuttgart,  1827-34, 
Theil  i.  p.  305,  Anhang,  Ueber  den  Unsprung  der  Greife,  and  Theil  ii.  p.  189; 
and  more  particularly  by  Stephani  (Ludolf),  Erkldrung  einiger  im  Jahre  1863 
im  siidlichen  Russland  gefundenen  Gegenstande,  Compte  Rendu  de  1' Academic  dc 
St.  Petersbourg,  St.  Petersbourg,  1864,  p.  64. 

The  most  important  materials  for  a  consideration  of  the  position  and  develop¬ 
ment  of  this  type  in  ancient  literature  and  art  have  been  collected,  among  others 
by  Ukert  (Friedrich  August),  Geographic  der  Griechen  und  Rbmer,  Weimar, 
1816-46;  Welcker  (Karl  Gottlieb),  Hekate  und  Eros,  von  Greifcn  gezogen,  in 
his  Alte  Denkmdler  erkldrt,  Gottingen,  1849-64,  vol.  ii.,  and  in  another  paper 
entitled  Sarcophag  im  Museum  zu  Koln,  Zeitschrift  fiir  Alterthumskunde  des 
Rheinlandes,  Bonn,  1845 ;  Baehr’s  note  to  Herodotus,  2d  ed.,  Lipsiae,  1856-61, 
vol.  ii. ;  Brunet’s  Recherches  sur  quelques  A  nimaux  fantastiques,  in  the  Revue 
A rcheologique,  vol.  ix.,  Paris,  1853  ;  Brunn’s  Intorno  ad  alcune  rappresentanze 
della  Sfinge,  in  the  Bulletmo  dell'  Instituto,  Roma,  1853  >  an^,  more  particularly, 
Stephani,  in  the  works  already  quoted  and  in  the  volumes  of  the  Compte  Rendu 
de  VAcademie  de  St.  Petersbourg  for  the  years  1863  and  1867;  Langbehn  (J.), 
Flugelgestalten  der  dltesten  griechischen  Kunst,  Miinchen,  1881 ;  and  Furtwangler 
as  quoted  above. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


203 


of  the  most  powerful  animals  of  earth  and  air.  Hence  both 
are  among  the  most  common  apotropaic  symbols.1 2 3 4  Sphinx 
and  griffin  being  identical  in  formation  with  the  sole  excep¬ 
tion  of  the  head,  it  is  not  difficult  to  account  for  their  similar¬ 
ity  of  attributes  and  exchange  of  functions.  The  alternation 
of  the  head  of  a  leopard  with  that  of  an  eagle,  in  the  griffins 
of  our  mosaic,  indicates  the  readiness  with  which  the  human 
head  might  be  exchanged  for  that  of  the  bird. 

As  the  result  of  this  we  may  frequently  notice  in  ancient 
literature  a  failure  clearly  to  distinguish  between  these  mon¬ 
sters,  while  in  ancient  decorative  art  we  constantly  see  sphinx 
and  griffin  employed  as  the  most  natural  pendants,  and  often 
used  interchangeably. 

Thus  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  in  one  of  the  earliest  refer¬ 
ences  to  the  griffin  Aischylos  terms  it  6  Zvarofios  Zrjvbs 
aKpayr]^  kvcov a  designation  which  closely  corresponds  with 
that  applied  by  the  same  author  to  the  sphinx,  hvayfiepcav 
7 TpvTavLS  kvcov?  The  Romans  certainly  conceived  sphinx 
and  griffin  to  be  identical,  designating  both  by  one  and  the 
same  word.4  So  direct  literary  proof  of  this  particular  con¬ 
fusion  is,  it  is  true,  wanting  in  the  case  of  the  Greeks  them¬ 
selves  ;  but  a  noteworthy  parallel  is  presented  by  their 
identification  of  the  griffin  with  the  hippalektryon.5 

We  reach  these  same  conclusions  more  directly,  and  with 

1  For  much  that  concerns  the  prophylactic  signifiance  of  sphinx  and  griffin, 
see  Jahn  (Otto),  Die  Lauersforter  Phalerae,  Bonn,  i860.  Sphinxes  are  very 
frequently  represented  upon  apotropaic  vases. 

2  Aischylos,  Prom.,  803. 

3  Aischylos,  Frag.,  No.  232.  Sophokles  ( Oed .  R.,  39 1)  applies  to  the  sphinx 
the  word  patf/ipSos  kijco v. 

4  “  Piceis,”  “  Pices,”  or  “  Phices,”  (Fes/us,  ed.  Muller,  p.  206  ;  Isidorus,  Orig., 
xx.  2,  3  ;  Nonius  Marcellus,  De  Propr.  Serm.,  p.  152.  7>  Leipzig  ed.,  who  refers 
to  the  important  passage  of  Plautus,  Aid.,  IV.  3.  1),  from  the  Boeotian  form  of 
the  word  sphinx,  <pUj,  as  used,  for  instance,  by  Hesiod,  Theog.,  326. 

5  This  is  done  by  Photios,  Lex.,  and  by  Hesychios,  both  s.  v.  T^raAe/crpi/wy. 


204 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


greater  certainty,  in  surveying  the  wide  field  of  ancient  deco¬ 
rative  art,  a  small  number  of  characteristic  examples  from 
which  will  suffice  for  illustration.  The  potency  in  warding 
off  malign  influences,  attributed  alike  to  sphinx  and  griffin, 
led  to  the  employment  of  both  forms  in  the  sculptured  decora¬ 
tions  of  arm-chairs,  couches,  lamps,  and  other  furnishings  of 
the  dwelling,  as  well  as  upon  the  helmets  and  breastplates  of 
the  warrior,  and  it  was  without  doubt  through  this  common 
significance  of  an  occult  protection,  quite  as  much  as  through 
the  resemblance  of  form,  that  the  identity  of  character  was 
established.  In  one  of  its  commonest  functions,  as  the  guar¬ 
dian  of  funeral  monuments  or  of  sacred  edifices,  the  griffin 
# 

formed  a  pendant  to  the  sphinx,  or  even  replaced  it  alto¬ 
gether.  It  will  be  recollected  that  in  the  case  of  the 
acroterion  of  the  temple  of  Assos  we  were  in  doubt  as  to 
which  of  these  monsters  the  fragment  of  a  paw  was  to  be 
ascribed. 

In  apotropaic  vases,  of  the  earliest  as  well  as  of  the  most 
recent  styles,  the  griffin  is  constantly  found  in  combination 
with  the  sphinx.  Apart  from  Oriental  examples  of  this 
parallelism1  well  known  Greek  examples  of  the  appearance 
of  both  monsters  in  figure  compositions  are  afforded  by  the 
Francois  vase,  before  instanced,  by  a  vase  of  the  Ermitage, 
published  by  Micali,2  and  by  one  from  the  Castellani  collec¬ 
tion.3  It  must  have  been  as  such  pendants  that  sphinxes 
and  griffins  stood  together  in  the  palace  of  the  Scythian  King 
Skyles  at  Olbia,4  —  if,  indeed,  we  may  not  conclude,  from 

1  Layard,  Monuments  of  Nineveh ,  vol.  i.  pi.  89;  vol.  ii.  pi.  69.  Cesnola 
(Alessandro  Palma  di),  Salaminia,  London,  1884,  2d  ed.,  fig.  115.  Lajard  (Jean 
Baptiste  Felix),  Recherches  sur  le  Culte  publique  et  les  My s teres  de  Mithra  en 
Orient  et  en  Occident,  Paris,  1867,  fig.  58,  et  al.  For  an  Etruscan  example,  see 
Micali,  Mosiumenti,  tav.  xliii. 

2  Micali,  Monumenti,  tav.  xl.  4  Herodotos,  IV.  78. 

8  Frohner  (Wilhelm),  Collection  Castellani ,  Rome,  1SS4,  No.  368. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


205 


the  frequency  of  griffins  and  the  entire  lack  of  sphinxes 
among  the  remains  of  this  part  of  the  ancient  world,  that 
Herodotos  himself  affords  us  an  example  of  that  confusion 
between  the  two  forms  which  appears  to  be  frequent  among 
ancient  writers.1 

The  griffin,  like  the  sphinx,  with  which  it  was  so  readily 
confounded,  by  no  means  originated  amongst  the  Greeks. 
This  fact  is  substantiated  not  only  by  the  constant  appear¬ 
ance  of  griffins  upon  Oriental  monuments  of  the  highest 
antiquity,2  but  also  by  the  traditions  of  an  Eastern  derivation 

1  Compare  upon  this  point  the  note  to  this  passage  given  by  Rawlinson  in  his 
translation  of  Herodotos,  London,  1875,  vol.  iii.,  and  the  authorities  in  regard  to 
the  discovery  of  griffins  in  Scythia  there  cited. 

2  An  outline  history  of  the  employment  of  this  form  in  ancient  art  may  be 
recognized  from  the  facts  already  adduced.  To  sum  up  concisely.  The  griffin, 
like  the  sphinx,  undoubtedly  had  its  origin  in  the  agglutinative  methods  of 
mythology  and  heraldry.  The  earliest  formal  combination  of  the  kind  known 
to  the  writer  is  that  Chaldean  image  of  the  winged  lion  with  bird’s  talons  upon 
its  hind  legs  which  Assyriologists  identify  as  the  enemy  Tiamat.  In  Assyrian  art 
we  see  this  figure  assume  the  eagle’s  head  (Lajard,  Culte  de  Mithra,  figs.  54  B, 
56,  57;  Menant  (Joachim),  Les  Pierres  Gravees  de  la  Haute  Asie,  Paris,  1883-86, 
vol.  ii.  fig.  7  ;  Perrot  and  Chipiez,  Histoire  de  V Art  dans  V  Antiquite,  vol.  ii.  fig. 
1 1 ),  and  finally  adopt  the  characteristic  form  of  the  griffin  with  the  hind  legs 
of  a  lion  (Layard,  Monuments  of  Nineveh,  vol.  i.  pis.  8,  43,  46  ;  Discoveries  in  the 
Rums  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon,  p.  200,  et  al. ) . 

An  adequate  investigation  into  the  further  history  of  the  type  would  here 
lead  us  too  far  afield.  Attention  should,  however,  be  called  to  the  fact  that 
griffins,  closely  approaching  in  form  those  depicted  by  the  Greeks  of  the  archaic 
period,  and  differing  in  certain  important  respects  from  the  Tiamat  type  of 
Mesopotamia,  appear  upon  the  most  ancient  engraved  cylinders  of  the  Hittites. 
Lajard,  Culte  de  Mithra,  fig.  58  ;  Wright  (William),  The  Empire  of  the  Hittites, 
London,  1884,  pi.  i.  ;  Seal  from  Marash  in  the  Museum  of  Berlin,  No.  7894. 

Perhaps  the  next  stage  in  the  further  migration  is  presented  by  the  sitting 
griffin  so  frequently  met  w’ith  upon  Cyprian  seals,  such  as  that  referred  to  in  a 
former  note.  In  general  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  griffin  quietly  posed  as  a 
guardian,  and  not  in  attack  as  a  beast  of  prey,  forms  the  Syrian,  as  contrasted  with 
the  Mesopotamian  type.  It  is  this  guardian  which  appears  upon  the  seals  of  the 
very  earliest  Greek  period,  such  as  the  “island  stones”  in  Copenhagen,  Breslau, 
and  the  British  Museum,  published  in  the  Archdologische  Zeitung,  Berlin,  1883, 
pi.  16  ;  and  upon  the  Boeotian  tablet  mentioned  by  Milchhofer  (Arthur),  Die 
An f tinge  der  Kunst  in  Griechenland,  Leipzig,  1883,  p.  48,  and  now  in  the  Museum 


206 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


dwelt  upon  by  almost  all  those  classic  writers,  before  quoted, 
who  make  mention  of  the  monster.  The  task  of  the  Greek 
archaeologist  is  hence  rather  to  follow  the  changes  which 
altered  and  perfected  the  primitive  Oriental  type,  than  to 
seek  for  direct  explanations  of  its  origin,  or  original  mytho¬ 
logical  signification.  Taken  from  this  point  of  view,  the 
great  diversity  of  the  sphinxes  and  griffins  of  Assos  renders 
them  of  peculiar  interest. 

The  attributes  of  the  chief  deities  of  ancient  towns  were 
commonly  adopted  as  civic  symbols  ;  for  example,  the  owl  of 
Athenian  Pallas,  the  steeds  of  Delian  Apollo,  the  peacock  of 
Samian  Hera,  the  cock  of  Epidaurian  Asklepios,  the  stag  of 
Ephesian  Artemis,  the  goat  of  Ainian  Hermes,  and  many 
others.  This  usage  leads  us  to  inquire  whether  the  sphinx  or 
griffin  may  not  have  been  —  upon  this  Asiatic  coast,  at  least, 
where  these  monsters  were  early  received  from  the  East, 
and  possibly  connected  with  an  orientalized  cult  —  associated 
with  the  protecting  deity  of  Assos.  Some  indications  do,  in 
fact,  point  to  the  existence  of  such  an  association.  Chief, 
as  also  most  familiar  among  these  is  the  general  adoption 
of  sphinx  and  griffin  as  symbols  upon  the  helmet  crest  of 
Athena,  as  in  the  chryselephantine  statue  of  Pheidias,1  a  work 
in  which  all  such  details  were  most  carefully  considered. 
Some  other  points,  capable  of  supporting  this  argument,  have 
been  referred  to  by  Stephani.2  But  after  examination  of  all 
instances  of  such  association,  we  are  forced  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  available  materials  do  not  suffice  for  a  definite  attri¬ 
bution  of  either  sphinx  or  griffin  to  Athena,  or  indeed  any 

of  Berlin,  No.  7548.  The  small  griffins  of  beaten  sheet  gold  found  among  the 
most  ancient  remains  of  Mykenai  (Schliemann,  Mycenae ,  No.  261)  are  more 
Oriental  in  character. 

1  Pausanias,  I.  24.  5. 

2  Stephani  (Ludolf),  Der  ausruhende  Herakles,  pp.  147,  182,  and  the  other 
publications  of  this  author  already  quoted. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  188S. 


207 


one  Greek  deity.  Perhaps  the  closest  relation  recognizable  is 
that  existing  —  doubtless  in  great  measure  by  virtue  of  their 
attributes  of  invincible  force  —  between  these  Oriental  mon¬ 
sters  and  Phoenician  Herakles.  The  exploits  of  this  hero,  as 
will  be  borne  in  mind,  formed  the  subjects  of  the  sculptures 
of  our  temple.  Whether  it  was  in  any  wise  through  this 
intimate  connection  of  Herakles  with  the  official  worship  of 
Assos,  natural  enough  in  an  Aeolian  colony,  that  sphinx  and 
griffin  were  adopted  as  civic  symbols,  can,  in  the  present  state 
of  our  information,  be  no  more  than  a  conjecture. 

Here  we  may  terminate  our  consideration  of  those  temple 
sculptures  which  were  discovered  during  the  excavations  of 
the  second  and  third  years,  and  of  those  other  works  of  art. 
which  by  reason  of  their  subjects  are  connected  with  them. 
The  following  observations  upon  the  reliefs  previously  known 
have  the  sole  purpose  of  correcting  and  supplementing  the 
accounts  hitherto  published. 

Of  the  epistyle  blocks  and  metopes  seen  upon  the  site  of 
the  temple  by  earlier  investigators,  there  is  one  which  it  has 
been  impossible  to  discover,  or  at  all  events  to  identify. 
Prokesch  von  Osten,  in  the  two  descriptions  of  his  visit  to 
the  site  of  Assos  in  the  year  1826,1  enumerates  eleven  frag¬ 
ments  of  the  reliefs  which  were  at  that  date  to  be  seen  upon 
the  surface  of  the  earth.  Of  these  the  eighth  is  described  as 
“ein  sitzender  Amor,  der  die  Hand  auf  den  Bogen  stiitzt” 
Nothing  exactly  corresponding  with  this  was  found  either 
by  the  French  or  by  the  American  explorers.  We  are  thus 
left  in  doubt  whether  a  relief  showing  a  subject  of  this 
nature  actually  disappeared  during  the  nine  years  which 

1  The  earlier  of  these  accounts  was  given  in  the  Anzeigeblatt  of  the  Wiener 
Jahrbuch  der  Literatur ,  vol.  lviii.,  Wien,  1832,  under  the  title,  “  Mittheilungen 
aus  Kleinasien  von  Oberstlieutenant  von  Prokesch  Osten :  I.  Reise  von  Smyrna 
durch  Mytilene  nach  Alexandria-Troas  und  Assos,”  July,  1826  ;  and  subsequently 
in  his  Denkwiirdigkeiten  und  Er  inner  ungen  aus  dem  Orient,  before  quoted. 


208 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


elapsed  between  the  visit  of  Prokesch  and  that  of  Texier,  or 
whether  Prokesch  may  have  seen  a  portion  of  the  relief  of 
Herakles  and  Pholos  (Fig.  37),  —  discovered  at  no  great  depth 
beneath  the  surface  during  the  American  excavations,  —  and 
have  entirely  mistaken  the  position  of  the  body  and  failed 
to  discriminate  between  the  two  personages.  That  a  figure 
of  Eros  should  have  been  represented  among  the  sculptures  of 
the  temple  is,  in  itself,  exceedingly  improbable,  and  we  are 
perhaps  warranted  in  assuming  the  bowman  seen  by  Pro¬ 
kesch  to  have  been  the  Aeolic  hero.  It  is,  moreover,  well 
known  that  some  carved  blocks  belonging  to  the  temple  have 
been  removed  from  the  site  by  Turkish  builders  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  generation.  Indeed,  it  is  surprising  that  so  much  still 
remains. 

The  one  complete  metope  relief  discovered  during  the  first 
year  was  referred  to  in  the  Preliminary  Report  as  represent¬ 
ing  a  man  pursuing  a  woman.  Further  examination  of  the 
block  has,  however,  made  it  apparent  that  the  figure  upon  the 
left,  supposed  to  be  that  of  a  female,  is  entirely  nude.  This 
amounted  to  a  proof  that  it  was  also  male ;  for,  as  is  well 
known,  naked  female  figures  were  not  depicted  by  the  Greeks 
in  the  age  to  which  these  sculptures  belong.  Even  as  late 
as  the  time  of  Praxiteles  the  nudity  of  the  Knidian  Venus 
required  to  be  explained  and  justified  by  the  suggestion  of 
the  bath.  Close  scrutiny  of  the  stone  showed  that  the  figure 
of  the  pursued,  like  that  of  the  pursuer,  had  been  originally 
provided  with  male  organs,  which  must  have  been  obliterated 
at  some  period  subsequent  to  the  displacement  of  the  frieze. 
Several  of  the  other  reliefs  have  suffered  similar  mutilation. 

In  order  to  complete  our  view  of  these  sculptures,  we  must 
now  give  our  attention  to  two  of  the  reliefs  from  the  temple 
of  Assos,  removed  from  the  surface  of  the  ground  by  the 
French  in  1835,  and  now  preserved  in  the  Louvre.  The  sub¬ 
jects  of  these  remarkable  works,  in  the  writer’s  opinion,  have 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


209 


not  hitherto  been  correctly  explained.  A  determination  of 
their  significance  is  of  importance,  not  merely  on  its  own 
account,  but  because  it  has  a  bearing  on  the  age  and  dedi¬ 
cation  of  the  temple,  and  on  the  artistic  relations  of  its 
sculptured  decorations. 

The  chief  of  these  reliefs,  upon  the  longest  known  epistyle 
block  of  the  temple,  represents  a  marine  monster,  a  kind 
of  merman  with  human  body  and  fishy  tail,  who  has  been 
seized  from  behind  by  a  naked  hero.  (Fig.  49.)  The  mon¬ 
ster  occupies  considerably  more  than  half  the  panel,  the 
space  beyond  and  above  the  tail  being  filled  in  with  six 
human  figures,  retreating  with  outstretched  and  uplifted 
arms,  as  if  affrighted  at  the  struggle.  As  the  trunks  of 
the  merman  and  hero  are  inclined  to  an  angle  of  about 
thirty  degrees,  and  as  all  the  heads  rise  to  precisely  the 
same  level,  the  six  upright  figures  are  of  less  than  half  the 
size  of  the  hero.  This  want  of  scale  results  from  the  de¬ 
signer  having  adhered  to  the  conventional  principle  known 
as  isocephalism  :  a  method  of  composition  regardlessly  fol¬ 
lowed  in  many  archaic  works,  and  often  recognizable,  though 
skilfully  disguised,  even  in  reliefs  of  the  perfected  style.  ’  In 
this  case  the  naive  violation  of  relative  proportions  is  not 
without  advantage;  for  the  figures  of  the  chief  actors  in  the 
scene  are  thus  rendered  prominent  in  the  same  striking  fash¬ 
ion  as  are  the  heroes  of  those  monumental  wall-paintings 
and  reliefs  of  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  art,  in  which  a  giant 
king  strides  victorious  through  hosts  of  pygmy  assailants,  and 
warriors  outtop  the  fortification  towers  which  they  defend. 

I  he  surface  of  the  stone  is  so  chipped  and  corroded 
that  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  determine  the  sex  of  the  six 
retreating  figures.  Texier1  and  Clarac2  describe  them  as 

1  Texier,  Description  de  TAsie  Mineure,  vol.  ii. 

2  Clarac,  Music  de  Sculpture,  vol.  ii. 

x4 


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INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


2  I  I 


female ;  De  Witte,  as  male.1  The  writer  inclines  to  the 
former  view,  and  it  is  at  least  certain  that  the  engravings 
published  in  th &  Monumenti2  are  incorrect  in  showing  these 
bodies  as  nude.  As  indicating  the  terror  inspired  by  the 
struggle,  these  fugitives  effectively  emphasize  the  main  ac¬ 
tion.  In  decorative  respects,  they  contrast  strikingly  with 
the  slanting  trunks  of  the  combatants,  being  erect,  or  slightly 
inclined  from  the  group,  the  arms  of  the  first  five  outstretched 
in  a  contrary  direction,  while  those  of  the  last,  terminating 
the  relief,  are  held  vertically  aloft.  The  regularity  of  the 
postures  is  almost  that  of  a  conventional  ornament ;  even 
the  turn  of  the  heads,  towards  or  from  the  dreaded  spectacle, 
is  in  unvaried  alternation.3 

The  attacking  hero,  though  entirely  naked,  bears  upon  his 
back  a  quiver,  seemingly  rather  as  an  attribute  than  as  part  of 
his  equipment,  and  is  thus  sufficiently  designated  as  Herakles. 
Such  was  not,  however,  the  identification  of  this  figure  given 
by  the  earliest  editors  of  the  relief.  Both  Texier  and  Clarac 
conceive  the  wrestler  to  be  King  Menelaos,  and  the  monster 
to  be  one  of  the  shapes  of  Proteus,  the  Egyptian,  whom  the  be¬ 
reaved  husband  is  constraining  to  prophesy,  as  recounted  in 
the  Odyssey.4  In  conformity  with  this  view,  Texier  supposes 
the  six  fugitives  (whose  figures  are,  as  he  declares  by  way 
of  support  for  the  identification,  tout  a  fait  Egyptiennes )  to 
represent  Helen  and  her  maids,  at  that  time  domiciled  with 
Proteus,  after  having  been  driven  to  Egypt  by  contrary  winds, 
while  on  the  voyage  from  Sparta  to  Troy.5  Clarac,  on  the 
other  hand,  conjectures  that  the  six  subordinate  personages 

1  De  Witte,  Annali,  1842. 

2  Monumenti,  vol.  iii.,  1839-43. 

3  It  is  a  further  error  of  the  engraving  in  the  Monumenti,  that  the  fourth  fig¬ 
ure  from  the  combatants  is  shown  looking  forwards. 

4  Odyssey,  IV.  435-460. 

5  Herodotos,  II.  112,  118. 


212 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


may  be  taken  for  the  daughters  of  the  Old  Man  of  the  Sea, 
“among  whom  we  may  recognize  the  divine  Eidothea”  (the 
only  daughter  of  Proteus  known  to  Homer,  by  the  way)  ; 
or,  again,  six  of  the  Nereids  ;  or,  if  one  prefer,  the  Pleiades, 
or  the  Hyades,  —  “  constellations  which,  by  reason  of  the 
changes  produced  by  them  in  the  seasons  of  the  year,  may 
be  brought  into  relations  with  Proteus,  the  variable  god,  to 
whom  they  may  have  been  compared,  and  with  whom  they 
may  have  been  associated.” 

Yet,  perplexed  by  the  fact  that  Menelaos  is  not  known 
to  fame  as  a  huntsman,  while  a  variety  of  animals,  lions, 
boars,  bulls,  and  the  like,  are  figured  among  the  sculptures 
of  the  temple,  Clarac  offers  as  an  alternative  an  entirely 
different  identification  of  the  hero,  who  he  suggests  may  be 
Aristaios,  son  of  Apollo  and  Kyrene.  Virgil,1  in  evident 
imitation  of  the  Homeric  episode,  has  described  this  bucolic 
divinity  as  questioning  the  prophetic  Proteus  concerning  bee 
culture,  and  Aristaios  thus  might  be  represented  in  the  strug¬ 
gle  with  the  marine  monster  quite  as  naturally  as  Menelaos. 
Clarac  calls  attention  to  the  fact,  that  the  attribute  of  the 
quiver  is  decidedly  more  in  keeping  with  the  functions  of 
Aristaios  than  with  those  of  the  Lacedaemonian  king ;  while 
the  six  fugitives  of  the  relief  may  remain,  as  before,  the 
daughters  of  Proteus,  the  Nereids,  the  Pleiades,  or  the  Hyades, 
or  they  may  be  taken  as  representatives  of  the  Muses,  or 
of  the  Seasons,  from  whom  Aristaios  had  received  his  train¬ 
ing  in  the  arts  of  husbandry.  Every  indication  afforded  by 
the  decorations  of  the  temple  is  readily  brought  into  line 
with  this  explanation.  Thus,  the  lion  is  that  beast  which 
ravaged  the  country  around  Mount  Pelion,  and  attacked 
Kyrene,  the  mother  of  Aristaios ;  the  Centaurs  are  Thessali¬ 
ans,  naturally  connected  with  the  nymph  and  her  son,  inas- 

1  Georgies,  IV.  387  et  seq. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  18S3. 


213 


much  as  Cheiron  had  himself  instructed  the  boy ;  the  pairs 
of  bulls  are  those  offered  by  Aristaios  in  sacrifice  before  enter¬ 
ing  upon  the  struggle  with  Proteus  ;  and,  finally,  the  pig  and 
the  stag  are  peaceable  animals,  significant  of  the  agricultural 
renown  of  this  mortal,  who  attained  to  the  dignity  of  a  god 
through  the  benefits  bestowed  by  him  upon  mankind.  An 
exegesis  such  as  this  is  too  perfect  and  too  characteristic  to 
be  passed  without  mention. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  sufficiently  obvious  fact  that  the 
hero  represented  upon  our  relief  is  none  other  than  Herakles 
was  fully  recognized  by  De  Witte,  one  of  the  earliest  editors 
of  the  Assos  sculptures,  and,  as  compared  with  Texier  and 
Clarac,  a  trained  archaeologist.  The  monster  whom  the  hero 
attacks  was,  in  De  Witte’s  view,  Nereus,1  —  a  being  gifted, 
like  that  other  Old  Man  of  the  Sea,  Proteus,  with  powers  of 
prophecy  and  of  transforming  his  shape  to  elude  the  grasp 
of  mortal  hands.  Herakles  was,  as  is  well  known,  fabled  by 
the  later  Greeks  to  have  sought  from  Nereus  advice  concern¬ 
ing  the  whereabouts  of  the  Hesperides  and  golden  apples, 
and  for  this  purpose  to  have  fallen  upon  him  while  he  was 
asleep,  holding  him  firmly  during  his  various  transforma¬ 
tions.2  This  identification  of  the  monster  as  Nereus,  correct¬ 
ing  as  it  did  the  most  obvious  error  of  the  Menelaos-Proteus 
version,  was  generally  accepted,  found  its  way  into  many 
handbooks,  and  has  been  reiterated  in  recent  years  by  author¬ 
ities  such  as,  among  others,  Lenormant3  and  Murray.4 

The  fact  was,  however,  soon  recognized  that  the  scene  thus 

1  In  respect  to  this  marine  opponent  of  Herakles,  De  Witte,  though  naming 
Nereus  first,  still  leaves  the  choice  open  between  him  and  Triton.  The  same 
failure  to  decide  between  the  two  candidates  is  noticeable  in  the  description  of 
the  relief  given  by  Guigniault. 

2  Apollodoros,  II.  5.  11.  Scholiast  to  Apollonios  of  Rhodes,  Arg.,  IV.  1396. 

8  Lenormant  (Franfois),  Intailles  Archaiques  de  l’ Archipel  Grec ,  Revue 

Archeologique,  vol.  xxviii.,  Paris,  1874,  pi.  12. 

4  Murray  (Alexander  Stuart),  History  of  Greek  Sculpture,  London,  1SS0-S3. 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


214 

appearing  among  the  sculptures  of  Assos  belongs  to  a  well 
defined  category  of  archaic  representations,  and  Gerhard,1 
republishing  in  the  year  1843  a  vase  painting  which  resembles 
the  Assos  relief  in  several  characteristic  features,  satisfactorily 
proved  that  the  monster  suffering  under  the  rough  embrace 
of  Herakles  is  not  Nereus,  but  Triton.  His  argument  was 
based  upon  the  observation,  that  in  no  case  does  the  group 
display  indications  of  that  illusory  change  of  shape  by  which 
Nereus  resisted  Herakles,  as  Proteus  did  Menelaos,  and  The¬ 
tis  did  Peleus.  To  this  is  to  be  added,  that  upon  three  of  the 
vases  depicting  this  struggle  the  name  of  the  monster  is  given 
by  accompanying  inscriptions  as  Triton.2  Moreover,  Nereus 
himself,  identified  by  an  inscription,  appears  in  several  of 
these  representations  as  a  spectator  of  the  combat.3  Hence 
Gerhard  justly  concludes:  “  Dass  ein  wirklicher  Triton  in 

1  Gerhard,  Auserlesene  Griechische  Vasenbilder,  vol.  ii.  pi.  cxi.  This  vase 
had,  in  the  previous  publications  of  De  Witte,  Description  des  Antiquites  et  Ob- 
jets  d’Art  qui  composent  le  Cabinet  de  Feu  Ad.  le  Chevalier  E.  Durand,  Paris, 
1836,  No.  302,  and  Dubois  (Leon  Jean  Joseph),  Description  des  Antiques  fai- 
sant  Partie  des  Collections  de  M.  le  Comte  de  Pourtales-Gorgier,  Paris,  1841, 
No.  196,  passed  as  representing  Herakles  and  Nereus.  Gerhard,  in  his  Berlin's 
Antike  Bildwerke  beschrieben ,  Berlin,  1836,  had  in  like  manner  called  the 
monster  of  the  vase  No.  697  “  Nereus,”  in  spite  of  the  inscription  “Tritonnos” 
upon  it.  Compare  also  the  same  author’s  Etruskische  und  Kampanische  Vasen¬ 
bilder  des  Museums  zu  Berlin ,  Berlin,  1843,  pi.  xv.  5,  6. 

2  One  of  these  is  the  vase  in  the  Berlin  Museum,  referred  to  in  the  preced¬ 
ing  note,  which  has  been  more  recently  described  by  Furtwangler  (Adolf),  Be- 
schreibung  der  Vasensammlung  im  Antiquarium ,  Berlin,  1885,  No.  1906.  For 
the  second,  see  Brondsted  (Peter  Oluf),  Description  of  thirty-two  Ancient  Greek 
Painted  Vases,  lately  found  in  Excavations  made  at  Vulci,  in  the  Roman  Territory , 
by  Mr.  Campanari,  London,  1832,  No.  7;  also  in  the  Archaologische  Zeitung,  1856, 
p.  248.  For  the  third,  see  De  Witte,  Description  d'une  Collection  de  Vases  Feints 
et  Bronzes  Antiques provenant  des  Fouilles  de  l '  Etrurie,  Paris,  1837,  No.  84. 

3  As,  for  instance,  on  the  vase  last  referred  to  in  the  preceding  note.  That 
on  another  vase,  published  by  Dubois,  Notice  d'une  Collection  de  Vases  Antiques, 
Paris,  1843-48,  the  name  Nereus  does  not  appertain  to  the  monster,  but  to  one 
of  the  lookers  on,  has  been  pointed  out  by  Jahn  (Otto),  Berichte  der  K.  Sdch- 
sischen  Gesellschaft  der  Wissenschaften,  Leipzig,  1854,  p.  173.  An  excellent 
r'esumi  of  the  argument  for  this  change  of  names  is  given  by  Roulez  (Joseph 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


215 


diesem  gequalten  Meergott  geineint  sei  leidet  sennit  durchcius 
keinen  Zweifel.  ” 

Reasons  for  questioning  the  appearance,  upon  such  archaic 
works  of  art,  of  Nereus  engaged  in  a  struggle  with  Herakles, 
are  likewise  to  be  derived  from  purely  literary  sources.  Long 
before  the  publication  of  Gerhard’s  argument,  Welcker1  had 
advanced  the  theory  that  the  legend  of  Nereus  prophesying 
to  Herakles  was  merely  an  imitation  of  the  Homeric  story  of 

Emmanuel  Ghislain),  Lutte  d'  Her  cute  et  de  Triton ,  Bulletin  de  I'Academie 
Roy  ale  des  Sciences  et  Belles  Lettres  de  Bruxelles ,  vol.  xi.,  Bruxelles,  1844- 

1  Welcker  (F.  G,),  Die  zwblf  Kampfe  des  Herakles  bey  Pisander,  Rheinisches 
Museum  fiir  Philologie ,  Geschichte  und  Griechische  Philosophic,  Bonn,  1833,  re¬ 
printed  in  the  second  edition  of  his  Akademische  Kunstmuseum  zu  Bonn,  1841, 
and  in  his  Kleine  Schriften,  vol.  i.,  Bonn,  1844-50.  Welcker  apparently  over¬ 
looked  the  fact  that  the  scholiast  to  Apollonios  of  Rhodes  ( Argon IV.  1396),  in 
repeating  the  tale  of  Nereus  prophesying  to  Herakles,  refers  to  Pherekydes  as 
his  authority  for  this  version  of  the  story.  Pherekydes  the  logographer  (not  to 
be  confounded  with  the  better  known  philosopher  of  the  same  name)  lived  dur¬ 
ing  the  first  half  of  the  fifth  century  before  Christ,  and  it  is  hence  evident  that 
this  episode  of  the  Herakles  legend  is  older,  at  all  events,  than  that  large  class 
of  literary  embellishments  and  duplications  for  which  we  are  indebted  to  the 
plagiarists  of  the  Hellenistic  age.  On  the  other  hand,  we  learn  from  Athenaios 
(XI.  38,  p.  469  d),  that  Panyasis  the  poet,  a  contemporary  of  Pherekydes,  relates 
that  Herakles  received  the  sun-bowl  for  the  voyage  to  Erytheia  from  Nereus. 
This  may  well  have  been  the  original  version  of  the  tale,  which  but  loosely  con¬ 
nected  the  adventurous  hero  with  the  Old  Man  of  the  Sea.  Athenaios  himself 
remarks,  that  “  perhaps,  as  Herakles  was  fond  of  large  cups,  the  poets  and  his¬ 
torians,  jesting  because  of  the  great  size  of  this  one,  may  have  invented  the 
fable  of  his  having  gone  to  sea  in  a  cup.”  This  vessel  was  naturally  reputed  to 
have  been  given  to  Herakles  ‘by  Okeanos,  as  stated  by  Peisander  (Athenaios, 
XI.  38),  —  a  much  older  and  better  authority  than  either  Pherekydes  or  Panyasis, 
—  and  in  this  business  Nereus  is  obviously  nothing  more  than  a  deputy  for  Okea¬ 
nos.  From  this  genesis  of  the  tale  of  Herakles  and  Nereus  it  is  plain  that  the 
connection  between  the  two  was  neither  sufficiently  primitive  nor  sufficiently 
close  to  serve  as  the  basis  for  a  scene  so  popular  as  that  represented  upon  such 
numerous  works  of  archaic  art  must  have  been. 

In  regard  to  the  marine  monster  itself,  Welcker,  though  rejecting  all  connec¬ 
tion  between  this  combat  and  the  expedition  to  the  Hesperides,  yet  fails  to  make 
any  advance  towards  the  true  solution  of  the  problem.  He  still  follows  the  iden¬ 
tification  of  the  merman  shown  upon  the  ancient  vase-paintings  as  Nereus,  con¬ 
tenting  himself  with  the  generalizing  remark  that  the  labors  of  Herakles  led  him 
to  subdue  the  monsters  of  the  sea  as  well  as  those  of  the  land. 


2  1 6  ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 

Menelaos  and  Proteus,  invented  as  an  embellishment  of  the 
exploits  of  Herakles. 

Gerhard’s  identification  of  the  monster  is  now  regarded  as 
so  firmly  established,  that  Klein1  has  based  upon  it  the  bold 
yet  plausible  suggestion  that  the  scene  sculptured  upon  the 
highly  archaic  throne  of  Amyklai,  described  by  Pausanias2 
as  the  struggle  between  Menelaos  and  Proteus,  in  reality 
belonged  to  the  wide-spread  category  of  works  of  art  depict¬ 
ing  the  combat  of  Herakles  with  a  Triton.  The  antique 
sight-seers  would  thus  have  fallen  into  precisely  the  same 
error  with  respect  to  this  representation,  so  entirely  obsolete 
in  his  day,  as  did  the  French  archaeologists  upon  its  redis¬ 
covery  in  modern  times. 

Judging  from  the  great  number  of  archaic  Greek  works  of 
the  kind  which  have  come  down  to  us,  this  victory  of  the 
national  hero  over  the  emissary  of  Poseidon  must  have  been 
one  of  the  most  popular  exploits  of  the  cyclus.  Gerhard3 
had  collected  twenty-three  representations  of  the  struggle  at 
the  time  of  his  publication,  and  this  list  was  increased  to  fifty 
by  Stephani.4  Seventeen  further  examples  have  recently 
been  added  by  Petersen,5  and,  finally,  seven  more  by  Stud- 


1  Klein  (Wilhelm),  Bathykles,  A rchaologisch-epigraphische  Mittheilungen  aus 
Oesterreich-Ungarn,  vol.  ix.,  Heft  2,  Wien,  1885.  In  basing  his  argument  upon 
the  Olympian  bronze,  which  forms  so  excellent  a  parallel  to  this  representation 
upon  the  throne  of  Amyklai,  the  author  justly  remarks  that  this  change  of  iden¬ 
tification  removes  the  relief  described  by  Pausanias  from  its  inexplicable  isola¬ 
tion,  placing  these  two  works  side  by  side,  at  the  head  of  a  long  and  typical 
series  of  archaic  designs. 

2  Pausanias,  III.  18.  15. 

8  Gerhard,  Auserlesene  Griechische  Vasenbilder,  vol.  ii.  p.  95,  note  12.  This 
list  is  not  without  important  errors.  Thus  No.  9,  the  pi.  xxxii.  of  Millingen 
(James  V.),  Peintures  A ntiques  et  Inidites  de  Vases  Grecs,  Rome,  1813,  is  incor¬ 
rectly  referred  to  as  showing  two  female  figures  beside  the  combatants. 

4  Stephani,  Compte  Rendu  de  la  Commission  Imperiale  A rcheologique,  St.  Peters¬ 
burg,  1867,  p.  21,  and  Nachtrag,  p.  209. 

6  Petersen  (Eugen),  Ercole  e  Tritone,  Annali,vo\.  liv.,  Roma,  1882.  Petersen 
overlooks  one  of  the  representations  given  (in  the  Appendix  to  the  Compte 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS ,  1883. 


2  I  7 


niczka,1  bringing  the  total  up  to  not  less  than  seventy-four. 
Among  these  we  have,  in  works  of  monumental  sculpture, 
the  poros  gable,  recently  unearthed  upon  the  Acropolis  of 
Athens,2  a  bronze  fragment  found  at  Dodona,3  the  Olym¬ 
pian  bronze4  and  the  Assos  relief  now  under  consideration. 
Probably  no  single  subject  in  all  the  wide  range  of  ancient 
mythological  scenes  is  known  to  have  been  so  frequently 

illustrated. 

In  not  one  of  these  representations  is  Herakles  shown  as 
attacking  with  his  accustomed  weapons,  the  club  or  the  bow. 
In  accordance,  doubtless,  with  some  detail  of  the  legend  now 
lost,  the  hero  wrestles  with  the  monster  naked-handed,  seizing 
him  from  behind,  and  employing  those  devices  of  the  palais- 
tra  known  to  the  sport-loving  Greeks  as  afxfxara.  Moreover, 

Rendu )  by  Stephani,  to  whom  he  refers  as  having  collected  forty-nine  examples 
only.  The  same  remark  applies  to  Studniczka.  The  example  thus  omitted  in 
these  recent  lists  is  No.  416  of  Dubois  (L.  J.  J.),  Catalogue  des  Vases  Grecs  for¬ 
mant  la  Collection  de  Mr.  C.  L.  F.  Panckoucke,  Paris,  1835. 

1  Studniczka  (Franz),  Attische  Porosgiebel ,  Mittheilungen  des  Deutschen  Ar- 

chaologischen  Instituts,  vol.  xi.,  Athen,  1886. 

2  Described  in  the  essay  quoted  in  the  foregoing  note.  Other  fragments  0 
this  gable  relief  have  since  been  discovered,  and  were  examined  by  the  writer  in 
the  small  museum  upon  the  Acropolis  of  Athens. 

3  Carapanos  (Constantin),  Dodone  et  ses  Kuines,  Paris,  1878,  pi.  xvi-  fig.  4- 
This  fragmentary  relief,  published  by  Carapanos  as  Herakles  and  the  Lernean 
Hydra,  was  identified  as  Herakles  and  Triton  by  Studniczka  in  the  essay  before 
quoted.  It  is  a  work  of  the  second  half  of  the  fourth,  or  even  the  first  half  of 
the  third  century,  and  is  of  interest  as  one  of  the  very  few  works  of  so  late 
a  date  which  depict  this  scene.  So  little  remains  of  the  body  of  the  monster 
upon  this  fragment,  that  it  appears  scarcely  sufficient  to  afford  a  conclusive 
refutation  of  the  original  assumption  of  Carapanos ;  nevertheless  Furtwangler 
(in  Roscher’s  Lexikon,  art.  Herakles )  unquestioningly  adopts  Studniczka  s 

identification.  . 

i  Ausgrabungen  zu  Olympia,  vol,  iv.  pi.  25,  p.  19.  Engraved  also  in  Curtins 

(Ernst),  Das  archaische  Bronzerelief  von  Olympia ,  Abhandlungen  der  fc.  Aka- 
demie  der  Wissenschaften,  Berlin,  1880,  p.  13,  No.  6.  Compare  especially  Furt¬ 
wangler  (A.),  Die  Bronzefunde  aus  Olympia  und  deren  Kunstgeschichthche 
Bedeutung ,  Abhandlungen  der  k.  Akademie  der  Wissenschaften,  Berlin,  18S0, 
p.  96. 


2  I  8 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTLTUTE. 


two  classes  of  these  numerous  works  are  to  be  distinguished, 
as  well  by  the  formation  of  the  merman  as  by  the  different 
action  and  grip  of  the  hero.  In  the  more  primitive  and  by 
far  the  larger  category  the  fishy  portion  of  the  triton  extends 
as  high  as  the  navel,  or  even  higher.  Herakles  sits  astride 
of  the  monster’s  back,  the  farther  leg  being  concealed  from 
view,  and  chokes  or  hugs  him  with  interlocked  arms.  In  the 
later  works,  among  which  the  Assos  relief  is  to  be  classed, 
these  features  are  considerably  altered,  and,  from  an  artistic 
point  of  view,  improved.  The  human  portion  of  the  fish-man 
has  been  extended  to  the  hips,  while  Herakles,  shown  in  en¬ 
tire  figure  in  front  of  the  monster,  no  longer  bestrides  and 
garrotes  his  victim,  but  grasps  him  firmly  by  the  wrists,  as  at 
Assos,  or  otherwise  holds  him  in  subjection.  It  is  in  some 
measure  possible  to  trace  the  development  of  the  older  works 
towards  this  type.  In  the  most  ancient  representation  of  the 
scene,  upon  an  “island  stone”  now  in  the  British  Museum,1 
the  scales  of  the  Triton  extend  quite  up  to  the  armpits,  only 
head  and  arms  being  human.  Herakles,  on  the  other  hand, 
naked,  yet  with  the  quiver  slung  across  his  back,  is  shown  in 
substantially  the  same  guise  and  action  as  at  Assos.  It  would 
be  difficult  to  find  a  more  striking  illustration  of  the  persis¬ 
tency  with  which  artistic  traditions  were  retained  by  the 
Greeks  than  the  identity  of  this  type  upon  works  of  such 
widely  different  epochs ;  the  gem  referred  to  being  perhaps 
the  very  earliest  known  instance  of  a  mythological  subject 
represented  by  Hellenic  art.  Even  in  the  movement  of  the 
struggle  from  left  to  right,  as  shown  upon  the  Assian  relief, 
we  may  note  the  retention  of  an  archaic  feature,  which  mav 

1  Lenormant  (F.),  Intailles  Arckaiques  de  P Archipel  Grec ,  quoted  above, 
page  213,  note  3.  Re-engraved  in  Milchhofer  (Arthur),  Die  Anfdnge  der  Kunst 
in  Griechenland ,  Leipzig,  1883,  fig.  55.  Lenormant,  as  has  been  noted,  still 
follows  the  identification  of  the  figures  as  Herakles  and  Nereus.  Mythological 
representations  are  of  extreme  rarity  upon  gems  of  this  class. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


219 


be  traced  from  the  island  stone,  through  the  long  series 
of  black-figured  vases,  to  the  red-figured  vase  of  free  style 
which  closes  the  list.1 

That  the  advance  in  artistic  composition  which  led  to 
the  changes  above  enumerated  had  been  made  in  Euro¬ 
pean  Greece  a  century  or  more  previous  to  the  building 
of  the  temple  of  Assos,  is  rendered  probable  by  the  tran¬ 
sitional  character  of  the  gable  relief  recently  discovered 
upon  the  Acropolis  of  Athens.  The  hero  shown  upon  it, 
though  still  garroting  the  Triton,  no  longer  sits  astride  of 
the  monster’s  back,  but  stands  in  front,  entirely  naked,  like 
the  Assian  Herakles.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  these 
improvements  were  the  result  of  the  execution  of  the  scene 
on  a  monumental  scale.  Postures  which  were  tolerable,  and 
in  some  respects  even  advantageous,  in  the  outline  drawings 
of  the  vases,  were  felt  to  be  altogether  unsuitable  when  en¬ 
larged  and  rendered  in  relief.2  These  changes,  when  once 

1  Described  by  Brunn  (H.),  Viaggi  in  Etruria,  IV '.  Vasi  e  Specchi  Chtusmi, 
Bullettino,  1859,  p.  105,  and  engraved  by  Petersen  in  the  paper  before  referred 
to,  Annali,  1882,  tav.  K.  The  entire  class  of  archaic  black-figured  vases  dis¬ 
plays  a  marked  tendency,  almost  amounting  to  a  rule,  to  turn  the  profiles  and 
direct  the  action  of  the  composition  towards  the  right.  On  this  point  compare 
Loschcke  (G.),  Darstellung  der  Athenageburt,  Archdologische  Zeitung,  1876, 

Berlin,  1877. 

2  Studniczka  advances  the  contrary  view.  (See  p.  75  of  the  essaT  before 
quoted.)  It  will  be  remarked,  however,  that  he  is  forced  to  contradict  his  own 
theory  in  treating  of  the  red-figured  vase,  the  design  of  which,  though  depicting 
an  archaic  subject,  is  wholly  free  from  archaistic  mannerism.  As  has  been  ob¬ 
served  in  connection  with  the  human-legged  centaurs,  it  was  the  steady  tendency 
of  Hellenic  art  to  free  itself  from  those  monstrous  combinations  of  human  and 
animal  forms  which  had,  in  early  ages,  been  adopted  from  the  Orient,  and  to 
relieve,  so  far  as  might  be  possible,  such  of  these  images  as  were  retained  from 
their  horrid  and  unnatural  character.  Thus  the  extension  of  the  human  trunk 
of  the  Triton  from  the  armpits  to  the  waist,  as  in  the  Attic  gable,  the  Assos 
relief,  and  the  red-figured  vase,  is  a  distinct  advance.  The  assumption  that 
these  figures  appertain  to  a  more  ancient  type  than  that  of  the  black-figured 
vases,  or  of  the  island  stone,  is  at  variance  with  leading  principles  of  historic 

criticism. 


220 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE . 


made,  were  readily  adopted  by  designers  of  all  classes,  as  is 
shown  by  the  painting  of  the  red-figured  vase  before  referred 
to.  In  view  of  the  fragmentary  condition  of  the  Athenian 
p-able.  it  is  difficult  to  determine  how  far  the  Assian  relief 
was  directly  influenced  thereby.  That  the  provincial  artists 
who  decorated  our  temple  depended  largely  upon  prominent 
works  of  Attica  and  the  Peloponnesos  is  certainly  to  be 
assumed,  as  we  have  had  occasion  to  observe  in  connection 
with  the  relief  of  Herakles  and  Pholos.  The  main  point  of 
difference  —  the  adoption  of  the  wrist  grip  instead  of  the 
interlocked  arms  — may  possibly,  as  Petersen  has  suggested,1 
be  ascribed  to  a  misunderstanding  of  the  wrestling  hold  of 
the  older  type,  through  which  the  arms  of  the  combatants 
were  interchanged.  The  readiness  with  which  this  might 
happen  may  be  judged  from  a  comparison  of  the  illustra¬ 
tion  of  the  relief,  Fig.  49,  with  the  drawing  of  a  black- 
figured  vase,  Fig.  50.  Yet  the  present  writer  hesitates  to 
adopt  this  explanation,  in  view  of  the  otherwise  intelligent 
character  of  the  design,  and  the  evident  purpose  of  the  sculp- 

1  The  observations  of  Petersen  (Essay  in  the  Annali,  1882,  before  referred  to) 
in  regard  to  this  relief  are  so  interesting  as  to  deserve  quotation  in  full:  “f£ 
d’  uopo  gettare  uno  sguardo  di  confronto  anche  sul  rilievo  d’Assos.  Fu  gia 
osservato  che  la  forma  di  Tritone  e  quivi  analoga  a  quella  della  tazza  a  figure 
rosse  ‘  R’  [published  as  plate  K  of  the  Annali,  1882].  Con  lo  stesso  [sic]  e  con 
pochi  altri  esso  ha  comuni  le  donne  che  corron  via.  II  gruppo  dei  combattenti 
poi  non  mostra  mai  altrove  deviazioni  si  notevoli  dal  tipo  antico  se  non  in 
‘R’;  ma  vi  contribui  forse  anche  la  necessita  dello  spazio.  Ercole  non  ca- 
valca  phi  Tritone;  vedesi  pero  ancora  serbato  il  gran  passo;  egli  non  abbraccia 
piu  Tritone,  ma  gli  afferra  le  braccia,  non  si  sa  bene  con  quale  scopo.  Chi 
sa  che  1’  autore  di  esso  rilievo  non  abbia  frainteso  il  tipo  Greco,  come  pure  e 
accaduto  a  recenti  osservatori,  ed  abbia  scambiato  il  braccio  destro  di  Tritone 
con  quello  di  Ercole  ?  Ammesso  questo,  e  imaginandoci  che  la  sinistra  di  Ercole 
abbracciasse  il  petto  di  Tritone  e  fosse  quindi  intrecciata  coll’  altra,  allora 
anche  la  sinistra  alzata  di  Tritone  e  stringente  senz’  alcun  dubbio  un  pesce 
avrebbe  il  suo  esemplare  nei  vasi.  L’  ammetter  questo  abbaglio  diminuirebbe 
1’  affinita  con  ‘  R,’  ma  gioverebbe  a  mettere  in  luce  il  carattere  semigreco  del 
rilievo.” 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


22  1 


tor  to  bestow  upon  the  Triton  his  attribute,  — the  conch  held 
in  the  uplifted  right  hand. 

For  despite  the  weathered  and  battered  surface  of  the 
relief,  and  the  consequent  uncertainty  of  outline,  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  this  object  is  actually  a  shell  trumpet, 
through  which  the  distressed  merman  is  about  to  blow  a  call 
for  aid.  No  different  explanation  was  offered  by  Texier,  Cla- 
rac,  De  Witte,  and  Guigniault,  the  first  four  editors  of  these 
sculptures,  and  no  other  possibility  suggested  itself  to  the 
mind  of  the  present  writer,  during  a  close  scrutiny  of  this 
relief.  Yet  Stark1  speaks  of  the  object  as  a  ring  Tiimpel 2 
sees  in  it  a  handle  of  the  sun-bowl  which  Herakles  received 
from  Nereus  ;  and  Petersen  and  Wolters  3  have  recently  pub¬ 
lished  it  as  their  opinion,  that  the  attribute  is  not  a  conch, 
but  a  fish,  seemingly  basing  this  view  rather  upon  the  fre¬ 
quent  appearance  of  a  fish  in  other  representations  of  Tritons 
than  upon  an  examination  of  the  work  itself.  Furthermore, 
Studniczka,4 *  following  the  same  method  of  determination/and 
arguing  from  an  ancient  description  of  a  certain  “  statue  of 
a  Triton,  carved  of  wood  and  holding  a  silver  kratanion  in 
its  hand,”6  believes  the  object  to  be  a  drinking-vessel.  He 
quotes  in  this  regard  the  statement  of  De  Villefosse,  the 
present  Director  of  the  Louvre,  in  reply  to  inquiries  made  by 
Purgold,  that  the  attribute  in  question  is  at  all  events  not  a 
fish,  and  may  be  either  a  drinking-horn  or  a  conch.  Were 

1  Stark  ( C.  B.),  Gaza  und  die  Philistdische  Kiiste,  Jena,  1852. 

2  Tiimpel,  Die  Aithiopenldnder  des  Andromedamythus,  Supplementband  der 
Jahrbiicher  fiir  classische  Philologie,  Leipzig,  1887,  p.  199' 

3  Friedrichs  and  Wolters,  Die  Gypsabgiisse  antiker  Bildwerke  in  liistorischer 
Folge  erkldrt ,  Berlin,  1885. 

4  Essay  in  the  Mittheilungen  des  Deuiscke?i  Archdologischen  Institutes,  1886, 

before  quoted,  p.  67,  note  1. 

6  Polemon  (or  the  author  of  the  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Greeks )  quoted 
by  Athenaios,  XI.  59,  p.  480  a.  The  Triton  thus  described,  evidently  a  xoanon, 
stood  in  the  treasure  house  of  the  Byzantines  at  Olympia. 


222 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


it  necessary  to  bring  forward  literary  and  archaeological  ar¬ 
guments  to  explain  the  appearance  of  a  shell  in  the  hand 
of  a  Triton,  it  would  not  be  difficult,  on  the  one  hand,  to 
adduce  a  great  number  of  classic  references  to  this  attribute,1 
while,  on  the  other,  besides  the  ancient  account  of  figures  of 
Tritons  blowing  conches  in  the  gable  of  a  temple  far  older 
than  that  of  Assos,2  we  have  examples  of  the  kind  upon  well 
known  coins  of  Corinth,  Akragas,  and  Askalon,  as  well  as  in 
vase  paintings,  and  on  reliefs,  engraved  gems,  mosaics,  etc., 
too  numerous  to  mention.3  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the 
great  majority  of  these  representations  show  the  conch  as  of 
a  curved  form,  like  that  of  the  Assian  relief. 

Recent  investigations  have  given  us  much  information  con¬ 
cerning  the  origin  of  this  monster,  graphically  designated 
by  an  inscription  upon  the  archaic  Olympian  bronze  as  the 
“Old  Man  of  the  Sea”  (AAI02  rEPfflST).  Like  his  adversary, 
Herakles,  he  is  of  Oriental,  and,  as  it  appears,  Phoenician 
extraction.4  The  similarity  of  the  formation  of  this  fish-man 
to  that  of  the  deities  Dagon  and  Derketo,  especially  wor¬ 
shipped  in  Askalon  and  Gaza,5  must  strike  every  observer. 
The  prototypes  of  the  Greek  Triton  appear  upon  Assyrian 

1  Pausanias  (VIII.  2.  7)  states  as  particularly  characteristic  of  Tritons  that 
they  blow  through  perforated  shells.  Compare  also  Moschos,  Idyll.,  II.  120; 
Nonnos,  Dionys.,  I.  61,  VI.  270,  XXXVI.  93;  Virgil,  Aen.,  X.  209;  Lucan, 
Phars.,  IX.  347;  Ovid,  Metam.,  I.  333;  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.,  IX.  9;  Hyginus,  Fab., 
II.  23 ;  Appuleius,  Metam.,  IV.  85 ;  and  many  others. 

2  This  was  the  temple  of  Saturn,  in  Rome,  destroyed  by  fire  in  the  year  of 
the  city  257.  The  account  referred  to  is  given  by  Macrobius,  Sat.,  I.  8.  4. 

3  A  list,  far  from  complete,  of  such  representations  of  Tritons  and  their 
conches,  is  given  by  Stephani  in  the  Compte  Rendu  de  la  Commission  Impenale 
A rcheologique,  St.  Petersbourg,  1871. 

4  Compare,  upon  the  course  of  this  development,  the  remarks  of  Milchhofer, 
Anfange  der  Griechischen  Kunst,  p.  84. 

5  A  discussion  of  this  point  is  to  be  found  in  Stark,  Gaza,  p.  249.  For 
examples,  see  Lajard  (J.  B.  F.),  Recherches  sur  le  Culte,  les  Symboles,  les  Attri- 
buts  et  les  Monuments  figures  de  Venus,  en  Orient  et  en  Occident ,  Paris,  1837-49, 
pi.  22,  24. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


223 


reliefs  and  seals  and  upon  that  class  of  painted  vases 
termed  by  keramic  specialists  of  the  older  school  Tyrenian, 
Phoenician-Baby  Ionian,  or  Syrian-Phoenician,1 2  we  see  mon¬ 
sters  of  similar  shape,  the  offspring  of  the  same  artistic 
tradition.  Furtwangler3 * * * * 8  believes  this  image  to  have  been 
introduced  to  Hellenic  art  by  the  Ionian  inhabitants  of  the 
Asiatic  coast  during  the  eighth  century  before  Christ.  Cer¬ 
tain  it  is  that  the  island  stone,  before  referred  to  as  repre¬ 
senting  the  struggle  of  Herakles  with  the  monster,  shows 
distinct  traces  of  the  Phoenician  influence. 

The  Attic  vase  painters  who  inscribed  their  representa¬ 
tions  of  this  monster  with  the  name  “Triton”  undoubtedly 
followed  an  identification  of  this  Oriental  type  made  by  Greek 
mythographers  of  a  much  earlier  age.  The  image  of  the 
Phoenician  sea-god  was  readily  made  to  serve  for  that  of  a 
corresponding  member  of  the  Hellenic  theogony.  It  is  inter¬ 
esting  to  observe,  as  illustrative  of  the  Greek  conception, 
even  at  the  early  date  when  this  adoption  took  place,  that 
such  a  monstrous  combination  of  human  and  animal  foims 

1  As,  for  instance,  the  relief  from  the  palace  of  Sargon,  which  dates  from  the 
close  of  the  eighth  century,  engraved  in  Botta  and  Flandin,  Monument  de  Ninive, 
Paris,  1849-50,  pi.  32,  34.  Babylonian  seals  representing  the  subject  are  shown 
in  La'jard,  Mithra,  pi.  62,  I,  2;  17,  2;  31,  55  Layard,  Discoveries  in  the  Ruins  of 
Nineveh  and  Babylon,  London,  1853,  p.  343!  King  (Charles  William),  Antique 
Gems  and  Rings,  London,  1872,  vol.  ii.  pi.  3,  6  ;  and  others. 

2  On  this  class  of  vases  compare  De  Witte,  Cabinet  Durand,  Pref.  II.  and 
HI.;  Gerhard,  Archdologisches  Intelligenzblatt,  Berlin,  1S36,  p.  3°7  >  Raoul  Ro- 
chette,  Nouvelles  Observations  sur  les  Anciennes  Fabriques  de  Vases  Pemts,  Journal 
des  Savants,  Paris,  1841,  p.  356. 

Human  figures  ending  in  fishes’  tails  are  shown  upon  the  so  called  Phoenician 
vase  published  by  Gerhard,  Ueber  die  Kunst  der  Phomcier,  Berlin,  1848,  pi.  47  ; 

and  upon  those  given  by  the  same  author  in  his  Berlin  s  Ant  ike  Bildwerke, 
Nos.  480  and  542.  Upon  a  vase  now  in  the  collection  of  Munich,  published  by 

Micali,  Monumenti  Inediti,  Firenze,  1844,  pi.  43,  sphinxes  and  griffins  closely  re¬ 

sembling  those  of  Assos  appear,  together  with  a  winged  figure  provided  with  a 

similar  appendage. 

8  Furtwangler,  Die  Bronzefunde  aus  Olympia,  pp.  96,  97. 


224 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


was  never  employed  to  represent  the  mighty  Poseidon  him¬ 
self,  but  was,  from  the  first,  restricted  to  an  inferior  order 
of  beings,  the  frightful  emissaries  of  the  Earth-Encircler. 
The  name  Triton,  as  we  may  observe  in  such  compound 
forms  as  Amphitrite  and  Tritogeneia,1  is  directly  signifi¬ 
cant  of  the  element  inhabited  by  these  creatures,  having,  as 
has  been  recently  pointed  out,  a  common  origin  with  the 
Sanscrit  word  trita ,  water. 

Pausanias2  has  given  us  a  description  of  the  appearance  of 
these  beings,  which  corresponds  closely  with  their  portraits 
upon  the  archaic  works  of  art,  and  furthermore  indicates 
various  details  which  upon  the  reliefs  of  Athens  and  Assos 
were  undoubtedly  supplied  by  color.  He  remarks  that  their 
hair  resembled  the  frog-grass  seen  in  swamps,  falling  in 
masses  so  that  the  separate  hairs  were  not  distinguishable; 
that  they  had  a  human  nose,  eyes  of  a  bluish  tint,  hands  with 
fingers  indicated  and  with  finger-nails  similar  to  mussel  shells, 
and  that  they  had  below  the  belly,  instead  of  legs  and  feet, 
a  tail  like  that  of  a  dolphin. 

When  the  conception  is  confined  to  a  single  individual,  this 
Triton,3  as  is  well  known,  takes  his  place  in  the  mythology  of 

1  It  is  interesting  to  observe  how  entirely  the  Greeks  themselves  were  igno¬ 
rant  of  the  derivation  and  the  true  significance  of  this  word,  referring  its  first 
two  syllables  to  the  Lake  Tritonis  in  Libya,  near  which  Athena  was  born, — 
to  the  stream  Triton  in  Boiotia,  —  to  the  head  of  Zeus,  —  or  to  the  numeral  r pe7s, 
either  because  the  goddess  was  born  on  the  third  day  of  the  month,  or  was  the 
third  child  born  (after  Apollo  and  Artemis),  or,  finally,  was  the  author  of  the 
three  main  bonds  of  social  life.  The  references  to  the  classic  authors  who  have 
thus  explained  the  word  will  be  found  in  Stephani’s,  Tkesauros,  s.  v.  Tpiro- 
yevfia.  Compare  upon  this  point  also  Welcker,  Die  Aeschylische  Trilogie ,  Darm¬ 
stadt,  1824,  pp.  164,  282.  The  recognition  of  the  Sanscrit  root  can  leave  no  doubt 
as  to  the  real  significance  of  the  epithet,  of  which  not  one  of  the  ancients  seems 
to  have  been  aware. 

2  Pausanias,  IX.  21.  1. 

3  Triton  is  said  to  have  been  the  son  of  Poseidon  by  Amphitrite  (Hesiod, 
Theog ,  930,  and  Apollodoros,  I.  4.  6),  or  by  Kelaino  (Tzetzes,  commentary  to 
Lykophron,  885),  or  by  Salakia  (Servius,  commentary  to  Virgil,  Aen.,  I.  144). 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


225 


the  Greeks  as  a  son  of  Poseidon,  dwelling  with  his  parent  in 

a  golden  palace  beneath  the  waves.1 

But  why  is  this  son  or  satellite  of  the  sea  god  so  frequently 
depicted  as  thus  struggling  in  the  rough  embrace  of  Hera- 
kles  ?  Not  one  of  the  archaeologists  who  have  treated  of  the 
subject  has  had  the  slightest  explanation  to  advance  in  this  re¬ 
gard.  Welcker,  Gerhard,  and  Stephani  alike  remark  that  the 
ancient  authors  make  no  mention  whatever  of  such  a  combat, 
popular  as  it  was  in  the  earliest  ages  of  Greek  art.  Baumeis- 
ter  and  Furtwangler  speak  of  the  legend  as  altogether  un¬ 
attested  by  the  mythographers.  In  short,  all  those  who  have 
treated  of  the  subject  are  in  agreement  with  the  concise 
conclusion  of  Petersen,  “  abbiamo  frequentissime  rappresen- 
tazioni ,  ma  nessuna  menzione  nei  superstiti  monumenti  let¬ 
ter anil' 

Yet  in  spite  of  this  great  weight  of  authority,  the  present 
writer  believes  it  possible  to  explain  the  nature  of  the  strug¬ 
gle,  and  to  connect  this  large  class  of  ancient  works  of  art 
with  one  of  the  most  notable  exploits  of  Herakles,  recounted 
by  classic  authors  of  every  age.  The  conclusion  at  which  he 
has  arrived  is,  briefly  stated,  that  the  combat  represented  is 
that  known  to  have  taken  place  between  Herakles  and  the 
sea  monster  who  devastated  these  very  coasts  and  threatened 
the  life  of  Hesione,  in  visitation  of  the  wrath  of  Poseidon  upon 
Laomedon,  king  of  Troy.2 

This  legend  is  one  of  the  oldest  of  the  Trojan  Cyclus, 

1  Thus  described  in  the  passages  of  Hesiod  and  Apollodoros  referred  to  in 
the  foregoing  note.  According  to  the  Homeric  idea  [Iliad,  XIII.  20),  this  palace 
was  situated  at  Aigas,  — the  name  of  half  a  dozen  Greek  towns  near  the  sea, 
derived,  without  doubt,  from  the  same  root  as  Aralov  and  aiyia\is. 

2  This  explanation  was  suggested  in  the  Preliminary  Report,  p.  106,  —  the 
ground  for  the  reason  there  assigned  being  the  local  character  of  the  Hesione 
legend.  It  is  perhaps  fair  to  state  that  the  identification  would  not  have  been 
advanced  at  that  time  had  the  writer  then  been  aware  of  the  difficulty  of  sup¬ 
porting  this  bold  hypothesis  in  the  lack  of  many  arguments  since  collected. 

IS 


226 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE . 


connected  with  the  most  primitive  traditional  history  of  the 
country,  and  repeatedly  referred  to  by  the  singer  of  the 
Homeric  epics  as  if  familiar  to  all  his  hearers.  Poseidon, 
together  with  Apollo,  had  been  bound  over  to  serve  Laome- 
don,  king  of  Ilion,  for  a  full  year,  whether  in  punishment  for 
a  revolt  against  the  power  of  Zeus,  or  voluntarily,  in  order 
to  test  the  presumptuousness  of  this  mortal  ruler.1  During 
this  year,  Poseidon,  obviously  in  his  character  as  Asphalios, 
built  the  fortification  walls  of  the  city.  When  this  task  was 
performed,  Laomedon  refused  to  give  the  gods  the  wages 
which  had  been  promised  them,  and  drove  them  from  his 
dominions,  threatening  to  cut  off  their  ears,  to  bind  them 
hand  and  foot,  and  to  sell  them  in  some  distant  island  as 
slaves.  In  revenge  for  this  ignominious  treatment  Poseidon 
sent  a  sea  monster,  which  destroyed  those  who  ventured 
upon  the  sea-shore,  and  even  those  whom  it  caught  tilling 
the  fields  near  the  coast.2  Laomedon,  in  distress  at  the  suf¬ 
fering  which  had  thus  befallen  his  people,  inquired  of  the 
oracle  of  Apollo  for  a  remedy,  and  was  told  that  a  virgin 
must  be  sacrificed  to  the  monster  as  a  propitiatory  offering. 
The  lot  fell  upon  Hesione,  daughter  of  the  king,  who  was 
accordingly  exposed  to  her  fate  upon  the  promontory  of 
Agamias  or  Agammeia,3  —  a  spot  to-day  recognizable  in  the 
steep  and  desolate  point  of  land  which  forms  the  northern 

1  Iliad,  VII.  452  and  XXI.  443.  Apollodoros,  II.  5.  9;  Hesiod,  quoted  by 
the  scholiast  to  Lykophron,  393  ;  Horace,  Carm.,  III.  3.  21 ;  Valerius  Flaccus, 
Argon.,  II.  491  ;  Servius,  commentary  to  Virgil,  Aen.,  II.  610. 

2  Of  this  vengeance,  the  fullest  account,  and  that  preserving  most  of  the  fea¬ 
tures  of  the  archaic  legend,  is  given  by  Diodoros,  IV.  42,  49.  For  other  refer¬ 
ences  to  the  story  of  Herakles  and  Hesione  see  Lykophron,  Cass.,  34,  with  the 
commentary  of  Tzetzes;  the  scholiast  to  the  Iliad,  XX.  145;  Apollodoros,  II 
5.  9  ;  Dictys  of  Crete,  IV.  22  ;  Philostratos  Jr.,  Imag.,  13 ;  Eudokia,  Viol.,  p.  344 ; 
Isaac  Porphyrogenitos,  preserved  in  Allacci  (Leone),  Excerpta  Varia,  Romae, 
1641,  p.  272;  Hyginus,  Fab.,  89;  Valerius  Flaccus,  Argon.,  II.  497-533;  Servius, 
commentary  to  Virgil,  Aen.,  I.  550,  III.  3,  VIII.  157. 

8  Hesychios,  s.  v.  ’A yajulas,  and  Stephen  of  Byzantion,  s.  v.  ’Ayi l/x/xeia. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


22  7 


boundary  of  Beshika  Bay.  At  this  moment  it  chanced  that 
Herakles,  proceeding  on  his  expedition  against  the  Amazons, 
passed  that  way,  and,  releasing  Hesione,  took  her  with  him 
into  the  city.  Here  Laomedon  induced  the  hero  to  go  forth 
to  battle  against  the  monster,  offering  as  a  reward,  in  case 
of  success,  the  immortal  horses  which  his  grandfather,  Tros, 
had  received  from  Zeus  in  compensation  for  Ganymede.  The 
details  of  the  struggle  have  been  variously  related.  The  only 
archaic  account,  that  of  Homer,  tells  of  a  wall  of  earth  which 
the  Trojans,  with  the  help  of  Athena,  piled  up  for  the  pro¬ 
tection  of  the  hero  “when  he  should  be  driven  back  from 
the  coast  to  the  fields.”1  Other  and  later  descriptions  of 
the  encounter  will  subsequently  be  referred  to. 

Setting  aside  that  late  imitation  of  the  Homeric  story  of 
Menelaos  and  Proteus,  by  which  Herakles  was  connected 
with  Nereus, — a  legend  excluded,  moreover,  from  the  present 
consideration  by  inscriptions  upon  archaic  vases,  as  before 
mentioned,  — this  exploit  of  the  hero  in  subduing  the  mon¬ 
ster  sent  by  Poseidon  against  Laomedon  is  the  only  feat  of 
the  kind  which  the  ancients  attributed  to  Herakles.  It  can 
be  no  other  than  this  deed  to  which  Euripides  refers,  when,  in 
connection  with  the  twelve  labors,  he  describes  Herakles  as 


1  Iliad,  XX.  145.  The  same  statement  in  regard  to  the  wall  is  made  by  the 
scholiast  to  this  passage,  who  refers  to  Hellanikos  as  having  related  the  story. 
Welcker  (F.  G.),  Jason  der  Drachentodter,  Rheinisches  Museum  fur  Philologie,  etc., 
Bonn,  1835,  III.,  subsequently  reprinted  in  his  Alte  Denkmaler  erklart,  Got¬ 
tingen,  1849-64,  — followed  by  Wieseler  (Friedrich),  Herakles  in  den  Rachen  des 
Meerungeheuers  tretend  und  die  befreite  Hesione,  Zeitschrift  fur  Alterthumswissen- 
schafl,  Giessen,  1851,  Nos.  40  and  41,  and  Flasch  (Adam),  Angebliche  Argonau- 
tenbilder ,  Munchen,  1870,  —  emends  the  scholion  by  substituting  tcvXos  for  relXos, 
preferring  to  believe  that  Herakles  was  supplied  by  his  patroness  with  means 
of  attack  rather  than  with  means  of  defence.  But  in  view  of  the  clear  account 
of  the  wall  and  its  purpose  given  in  the  Homeric  text,  and  of  the  fact  that  the 
word  relXos  is  repeated  by  Tzetzes  (commentary  to  Lykophron,  34)  this  change 
appears  altogether  inadmissible. 


228 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


“entering  a  bay  of  the  sea  and  establishing  with  his  oars  a 
calm  for  mortals,”1  —  or  which  is  meant  by  Pindar,2  Sopho- 
kles,3  and  Euripides  in  another  passage,4  when  they  speak 
of  the  hero  as  clearing  the  sea  of  its  monsters. 

It  would,  indeed,  be  an  altogether  unparalleled  case  in  the 
mythology  of  art,  if  a  deed  so  celebrated  as  to  have  formed 
the  subject  of  some  seventy  of  the  black-figured  vase  paint¬ 
ings  known  to  us  should  have  been  passed  by  entirely  without 
mention  by  the  ancient  poets,  playwrights,  and  mythogra- 
phers.  But  here  we  have  full  accounts  of  a  legend,  of  ex¬ 
ceptional  popularity  and  of  the  highest  antiquity,  which  is 
applicable  to  this  scene,  or  is  in  its  turn  wholly  unrepresented 
by  Greek  art. 

The  fact  that  this  identification  has  not  hitherto  been  pro¬ 
posed  is  undoubtedly  due  to  two  considerations,  which  will 
suggest  themselves  to  every  archaeologist  as  objections.  The 
first  of  these  is  that  the  marine  monster  sent  by  Poseidon 
was  called  by  a  word  (/c^'to?)  which  in  later  ages,  and  espe¬ 
cially  in  its  Latin  form,  gradually  came  to  be  restricted  to 
large  sea  animals  having  an  actual  existence,  such  as  whales, 
sharks,  and  the  like  ;  the  second,  that,  in  consequence  of 
this  change  of  idea,  works  of  ancient  art  of  a  later  period  — 
among  the  Romans,  though  not  among  the  Greeks  —  actually 

1  Euripides,  Here.  Fur.,  399 :  tt ovrias  6’  aAbs  fiv^obs  CicrejSaive,  dvarols  yaAaveias 
tl dels  iper/xols. 

This  passage  shows  that  the  exploit  was  not  performed  with  the  intention  of 
forcing  the  sea-monster  to  prophesy,  but  rather  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
peace  for  mortals.  The  figurative  words  of  the  poet  fully  characterize  the  deed 
as  the  deliverance  of  some  human  sufferer. 

2  Pindar,  Istkm.,  III.  75  ;  and  Netn.,  I.  62. 

3  Sophokles,  Track.,  1012. 

4  Euripides,  Here.  Fur.,  225.  These  references  are  in  entire  contradiction 
with  the  only  explanation  of  the  purpose  of  the  combat  between  Herakles  and 
Triton  hitherto  advanced,  namely,  that  of  Furtwangler  (in  Roscher’s  Lexikon, 
art.  Herakles,  section  iii.  p.  2192),  who  speaks  of  the  Triton  as  “subdued  and 
held  in  restraint  until  he  imparts  his  secret  knowledge  to  Herakles.” 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


229 


represented  the  monster  to  which  Hesione  was  exposed  as 
a  large  fish  or  sea-dragon. 

That,  however,  the  word  Ketos,  as  employed  by  Homer,  is 
not  necessarily  to  be  taken  to  mean  a  fish  of  any  kind,  is  evi¬ 
dent  from  the  context  of  other  passages,  in  which  the  word 
is  applied  to  sea-dwelling  monsters  of  entirely  different  na¬ 
ture.1  Elsewhere,  the  word  is  used  for  such  frightful  beasts 
as  crocodiles  and  hippopotami.2  And,  finally,  that  Triton  was 
himself  considered  to  be  one  of  these  monsters  is  evident  from 
the  reference  of  Lykophron  to  him  as  Poseidon’s  /cap^apo? 
kvcov,3  to  which  the  scholiast  adds,  that  this  Triton  is  the  Ke¬ 
tos  subdued  by  Herakles.4  This  passage  is  conclusive,  and 
completes  the  chain  of  evidence.  To  it  may  be  added  another 
and  most  curious  instance  of  the  employment  of  the  word  in 
this  signification,  to  which  attention  has  not,  in  so  far  as  I 
am  aware,  hitherto  been  drawn.  It  appears,  namely,  from 
the  accounts  of  Demostratos5  and  Pausanias,6  that  a  show 
monster,  purporting  to  be  the  embalmed  body  of  a  Triton, 
formed  one  of  the  chief  sights  of  a  temple  at  Tanagra,  in 
precisely  the  same  way  as  the  mummies  of  mermaidens  and 
sea-serpents  are  exhibited  in  the  booths  of  country  fairs  at 
the  present  day.  So  famous  was  this  ancient  curiosity, 


1  The  word  is,  for  instance,  applied  to  the  sea-calves  (seals)  of  Proteus 
{Odyssey,  IV.  446,  552).  It  is  correctly  rendered  “sea-beasts”  by  Butcher 
and  Lang  in  their  version  of  the  Odyssey,  and  by  Voss,  still  more  correctly, 
“ Meerscheusal”;  but  Buckley  (London,  1880)  translates  the  word  “whales,” 
absurdly  mistaking  the  obvious  sense  of  the  passage.  The  translator  last  named 
thus  exemplifies  the  error  into  which  the  mythographers  of  later  antiquity  had 
themselves  been  led. 

2  Euthymenes,  quoted  by  Athenaios,  II.  90. 

3  Lykophron,  Cass.,  34,  with  the  scholion  of  Tzetzes  to  this  passage. 

4  Preller  ( Griechische  Mythologie,  vol.  ii.  p.  163,  note  2),  in  referring  to  the 

passage  of  Lykophron  quoted  in  the  text,  remarks  concisely,  “Triton  also  be¬ 
longs  to  the  category  of  the 

6  Demostratos,  Halieutics,  preserved  in  Aelian,  De  Animal.,  XIII.  21. 

6  Pausanias,  IX.  20.  4. 


\ 


230  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 

that  its  effigy  was  frequently  impressed  upon  the  coins  of 
Tanagra  as  one  of  the  symbols  characteristic  of  the  town.1 
The  bloated  appearance  of  the  stuffed  animal  evidently  be¬ 
came  proverbial ;  and  Athenaios,  in  adducing  it  as  an  illustra¬ 
tion  of  excessive  obesity,  has  referred  to  the  defunct  Triton 
as  “the  Ketos  of  Tanagra,”  2  thus  leaving  no  doubt  as  to  the 
direct  applicability  of  this  term  to  the  being  in  question. 

The  instance  of  his  evil  deeds  afforded  by  the  adventure 
of  Hesione  is  quite  in  accord  with  what  the  ancients  have 
otherwise  reported  in  regard  to  the  nature  of  Triton.  At 
Tanagra  he  was  believed  to  have  attacked  the  women  who 
went  down  to  the  sea  to  bathe,  and  to  have  carried  off  the 
herds  grazing  near  the  coast,3  even  as  he  had  at  Troy  in 
the  days  of  King  Laomedon.  And  without  doubt  such  a 
Triton  was  in  the  mind  of  Odysseus,  when  he  dreaded  lest 
Poseidon  should  send  an  evil  Ketos  against  him.4 

It  is  nevertheless  undeniable,  that,  through  the  gradual 
restriction  of  the  word  to  members  of  the  fishy  tribe,  the 
conception  of  the  monster  to  which  Hesione  was  exposed 
came  more  and  more  to  resemble  a  whale,  rather  than  a  mer¬ 
man.  Thus  the  scholiast  to  the  Venetian  manuscript  of  the 
Iliad 5  relates  that  Herakles  entered  the  body  of  the  sea  beast 

1  A  number  of  such  coins  have  been  collected  by  Wolters,  Der  Triton  von 
Tanagra,  Archdologische  Zeitung,  1885. 

Athenaios,  XII.  75,  p.  551  A:  nSacp  ovv  naAAiiv  ianv,  ayade  TipSupares, 
irevipevov  Aval  XeTrr irepov  Sn>  KaraAiyei  aE ppnnvos  iv  K ipKa>^iv  f)  inrepirAov- 
rovi/ras  T<S  Tava-ypafa)  KVjr£i  iomiyai,  Kadiirep  oi  irpoupnp.tvoi  HoSpes.  Meineke, 
in  his  edition  of  the  Deipnosophists  (vol.  iv.  p.  253),  has  questioned  the  correct¬ 
ness  of  this  passage,  basing  his  doubts  upon  a  corrupt  gloss  of  Hesychios.  The 
question  raised  has  been  adequately  discussed  by  Wolters  in  the  essay  quoted 
in  the  foregoing  note. 

Pausamas,  IX.  20.  4.  This  legend  appears,  indeed,  to  be  a  duplication  of 
the  Hesione  story. 

4  Odyssey ,  V.  421. 

Scholiast  to  Iliad,  XX.  146.  The  commentator  remarks  that  the  story  of 
Herakles  and  Hesione  had  been  related  by  Hellanikos,  but  it  by  no  means  fol- 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


23I 


and  pierced  its  ribs;  while Theophylaktos1  and  Tzetzes,2  writ¬ 
ing  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  Christian  centuries,  go  still 
farther  in  this  direction,  asserting,  in  obvious  imitation  of  the 
Biblical  legend  of  Jonah,  that  the  hero  remained  in  the  belly 
of  the  monster  for  the  space  of  three  days.  That  the  archaic 
conception  of  Herakles  having  wrestled  with  the  monster 
bare  handed  had  been  entirely  forgotten,  even  in  the  classic 
period  of  Latin  literature,  may  be  gathered  from  the  long 
account  of  the  combat  given  by  Valerius  Flaccus,3  who  de¬ 
scribes  the  hero  as  killing  the  monster  with  a  rock,  after 
vainly  attempting  to  wound  it  with  arrows.  And  that  some 
uncertainty  in  this  respect  began  to  creep  into  the  legend 
early  in  the  epoch  of  the  red-figured  vases  of  Greece  may  be 
surmised  from  the  fact,  that,  upon  the  single  representation 
of  the  subject  belonging  to  this  category,  Herakles  is  shown 
armed,  although  not  attacking,  with  his  club. 

Probably  no  other  ancient  legend  became,  as  time  went 
on,  more  entirely  perverted.  The  later  writers  confounded 
the  deliverance  of  Hesione  with  that  of  Andromeda,  the  Triton 
with  the  dragon  and  with  Jonah  s  whale,  and  the  tactics  of 
Herakles  with  those  of  Menestratos  the  Thespian.4  The  ven¬ 
geance  wrought  by  mighty  Poseidon  upon  the  presumptuous 
Laomedon  and  his  subjects  appears,  in  the  account  preserved 
by  Diodoros,  as  the  visitation  of  a  divine  emissary,  —  “a  Sea 
God  who  destroyed  the  people  by  a  plague,  and  blasted  all 
the  fruits  of  the  field.”  This  original  conception  had  some¬ 
what  of  the  mystical  character  of  the  Oriental  mythology 
from  which  it  was  derived  ;  its  vagueness  rendered  it  the 
more  superhuman  and  terrible.  But  when  this  Sea  God 

lows  from  this  fact  that  all  the  details  of  the  tale  are  to  be  referred  to  the  more 
ancient  authority. 

1  Theophylaktos,  Expositio  in  Prophetam  Jonam,  cap.  ii.  1  (ed.  Migne,  p.  189)- 

2  Scholion  to  Lykophron,  34. 

3  Valerius  Flaccus,  II.  497— 533.  4  Pausanias,  IX.  26.  5. 


232 


A  RCHsEOL  OGICA  L  INSTITUTE. 


reappears,  in  the  decrepitude  of  Greek  culture,  the  archaic 
idea  is  wholly  lost,  and  we  see  nothing  but  an  ugly  beast : 
the  hungry,  carnal  monster  depicted  in  the  shape  of  a  con¬ 
ventional  dragon. 

Thus  it  came  about  that  in  Roman  art,  when  the  story  of 
the  exploit  was  again  popularized  and  freely  paraphrased  by 
Latin  mythographers,  the  Ketos  became  at  last  a  true  ceta¬ 
cean,  or  sea-dragon.  Subsequent  to  the  isolated  red-figured 
vase  and  the  Dodona  relief,  we  do  not  find  this  scene  depicted 
in  any  work  of  ancient  art  until  after  the  advent  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  era.1  When,  after  this  long  break,  the  subject  is  again 
taken  up,  the  change  has  been  fully  effected.  No  less  than  six 

1  This  is  a  highly  remarkable  fact,  for  the  story  of  Heraldes  and  Hesione 
was,  in  the  third  century  before  Christ,  still  sufficiently  popular  to  have  been 
chosen  as  the  subject  of  a  comedy,  called  Hesione ,  by  the  poet  Alexis.  Rib- 
beck  (Otto),  Die  R'omische  Trag'odie  im  Zeitalter  der  Republik ,  Leipzig,  1875, 
p.  46,  is  thus  in  error  when  he  asserts  that  no  Greek  drama  is  known  to  have 
treated  of  this  legend.  From  the  fragment  of  the  play  preserved  by  Athenaios 
(XI.  41);  we  may  see  that  the  struggle  with  the  monster  was  related  in  detail, 
the  lines  in  question  describing  the  exhaustion  and  great  thirst  of  the  hero  after 
the  exploit. 

From  two  of  Pliny’s  lists  [Nat.  Hist.,  XXXV.  114  and  139)  we  know  that 
the  subject  was  treated  by  Antiphilos  and  Artemon,  artists  of  the  Hellenistic 
epoch,  but  the  mention  throws  no  light  whatever  upop  the  nature  of  these  repre¬ 
sentations.  That  the  exploit  was  not  forgotten  in  the  subsequent  ages  would 
likewise  be  proved  by  the  painting  upon  an  Apulian  amphora  in  the  Museum 
of  Berlin,  if  we  are  to  accept  the  explanation  given  by  Gerhard  ( Apulische  Va- 
senbilber,  Berlin,  1845,  pi.  xi.,  described  in  the  same  author’s  Berlin's  Antike 
Bildwerke,  No.  1018),  who  identifies  the  figures  as  Herakles,  after  the  struggle 
is  over,  approaching  Laomedon  to  ask  for  his  reward,  —  the  rescued,  yet  still 
fettered  Hesione  following  with  Telamon.  This  vase  has  however  been  referred 
by  Furtwangler  ( Beschreibung  der  Vasensammlung,  No.  3240)  to  an  entirely  dif¬ 
ferent  subject,  Laomedon  appearing  in  this  identification  as  Kreon,  and  Hesione 
as  Antigone.  Compare  the  critical  literature  to  the  subject  cited  in  the  volume 
last  mentioned. 

It  is  likewise  uncertain  whether  we  should  include  among  these  examples  the 
painting  upon  an  Etruscan  vase,  found  at  Perugia,  of  late  yet  fine  style,  en¬ 
graved  in  the  Monument i ,  vol.  v.,  Roma,  1849-53,  pi.  ix.,  in  the  Annali,  vol.  xxi. 
1849,  pi.  A,  and  in  Welcker’s  Alte  Denkmaler,  vol.  iii.  pi.  24  (compare  the  re¬ 
marks  in  the  Adunanze,  Bullettino,  1846,  p.  87),  which  depicts  a  hero  advancing 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


233 


of  the  Pompeian  wall-paintings,  hitherto  unearthed,  represent 
the  deliverance  of  Hesione,  and  in  those  in  which  its  form  is 
distinguishable  the  monster  is  a  veritable  sea-serpent,  wholly 
without  human  semblance.1  In  two  of  these  instances  it  is 

with  drawn  sword  into  the  mouth  of  an  enormous  fish  or  dragon.  This  scene 
was  identified  by  Welcker  ( Jason  der  Drachent'odter ,  quoted  above,  p.  227,  note), 
and  by  Emil  Braun  ( Ingresso  di  Giasone  nelle  Fauci  del  Dragone,  Annali,  vol. 
xxi.,  1849),  as  Jason  and  the  dragon,  but  has  since  been  held  by  Wieseler  ( Hera - 
kies  in  den  Rachen  des  Meerungeheuers  tretend,  before  quoted)  and  by  Flasch 
( A ngebliche  Argonauten  Bilder ,  III.)  to  represent  Herakles  and  the  sea  monster. 
Flasch  even  goes  so  far  as  to  detect  in  the  mantle  which  the  hero  has  thrown 
over  his  head  the  Tevgos  of  Welcker’s  emendation,  before  referred  to.  Although 
there  is  nothing  whatever  upon  the  vase  peculiarly  characteristic  of  Hera¬ 
kles,  recent  writers,  e.g.  Baumeister,  Denkmdler,  Art.  Herakles,  (Furtwangler, 
in  Roscher’s  Lexikon,  Art.  Herakles,  is  less  committal,)  incline  to  the  latter 
identification,  which,  were  it  susceptible  of  proof,  would  render  this  Etruscan 
vase-painting  the  earliest  known  representation  of  that  version  of  the  legend 
which  is  given  by  the  scholiast  to  the  Iliad. 

1  No.  1.  Reale  Accademia  Ercolanese  di  Archeologia,  Pitlure  Antiche  d  Erco- 
lano,  Napoli,  1757-92,  vol.  iv.  p.  62 ;  Helbig  (Wolfgang),  Wandgemalde  der  vom 
Vesuv  verschiitteten  stddte  Campaniens,  Leipzig,  186S,  No.  1129.  A  hero  upon 
the  shore,  identified  as  Herakles  by  Wieseler,  but  as  Telamon  by  the  Neapolitan 
Academicians  and  by  Helbig,  hurls  a  rock  at  the  monster.  In  the  background 
another  hero  armed  with  a  club  (Telamon  according  to  the  former  view,  Hera¬ 
kles  according  to  the  latter)  converses  with  two  women,  one  of  whom,  naked, 
is  doubtless  Hesione.  Notwithstanding  the  indorsement  of  so  high  an  authority 
as  Helbig,  the  view  of  the  Academicians,  which  would  attribute  the  destruction 
of  the  monster  to  Telamon,  appears  altogether  inadmissible. 

No.  2.  Helbig,  Wandgemalde,  No.  1130.  The  monster  is  slain  by  a  rock  in 
like  manner.  This  fresco  had  been  identified  by  the  Academicians  as  Perseus 
and  Andromeda,  but  was  correctly  explained  by  Wieseler,  to  whom  Helbig  has 
adhered. 

No.  3.  Helbig,  Wandgemalde,  No.  1131.  Herakles  armed  with  the  club; 
the  image  of  the  monster  defaced. 

No.  4.  Helbig,  Wandgemalde,  No.  H32>  pb  xiv.  Compare  Schone,  Scavi 
di  Pompei,  Bidlettino,  1867,  p.  83.  Herakles  standing  as  victor,  armed  with  club 
and  bow,  while  Telamon  releases  Hesione  with  a  hammer  from  the  shackles 
which  bind  her  to  the  rocks. 

No.  5.  Helbig,  Wandgemalde,  Appendix,  p.  458;  Sogliano  (Antonio),  Pitlure 
Murali  Campane,  Napoli,  1880,  No.  494;  Ivekule,  Scavi  di  Pompei,  Bullettino, 
1S67,  p.  165.  Herakles  armed  with  bow  and  club;  the  monster  entirely,  and 
Hesione  in  greater  part  defaced. 

No.  6.  Robert,  Adunanze  dell'  Instituto ,  Bullettino,  1S75,  p.  40,  identifies  as 


234  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 

killed  by  a  rock,  as  described  by  Valerius  Flaccus  ; 1  in  the 
third,  it  lies  pierced  by  an  arrow  ;  while  in  the  others  Herakles 
is  armed  with  club  and  bow.  We  may  perceive  from  this 
variety,  among  works  nearly  contemporaneous,  how  freely  the 
details  of  the  legend  had  been  treated  by  mythographers  of 
the  period,  and  how  entirely  the  original  conception  had  be¬ 
come  obsolete.  In  conformity  with  the  account  of  the  exploit 
given  by  Hyginus,2  who  had  at  this  very  time  brought  the 
story  again  into  vogue,  Telamon  appears  as  the  companion 
of  Herakles  in  two  of  these  frescos,  as  he  does  upon  the 
later  terra-cotta  relief  of  the  scene  engraved  byCampana3 
and  upon  the  well  known  mosaic  of  the  Villa  Albani,  published 
by  Winckelmann.4  Upon  a  fragmentary  paste  cameo,  of 
Roman  workmanship,  belonging  to  Gerhard  and  published  by 
him,5  Herakles  bends  his  bow  against  the  dragon  guarding 
Hesione,  the  monster  having  here  the  head  of  a  serpent 
rather  than  that  of  a  fish.  A  relief  of  debased  style  upon  a 
marble  discus  in  the  Museum  of  Vienne 6  likewise  shows 
the  struggle  to  have  been  carried  on  with  the  bow. 


Herakles  and  Hesione  the  painting  given  in  the  Pitture  d'  Ercolano,  vol.  iv.  p.  61, 
and  in  Helbig,  Wandgemalde,  No.  1184,  where  it  had  in  both  cases  been  de¬ 
scribed  as  Perseus  and  Andromeda.  The  hero  wades  into  the  water  to  meet 
the  monster. 

As  proof  of  the  popularity  of  the  subject  early  in  the  first  Christian  century, 
there  may  be  added  to  these  pictures  of  the  deliverance  of  Hesione  the  presen¬ 
tation  of  Priam  to  Herakles  by  Hesione  (Helbig,  Wandgemalde,  No.  1147,  upon 
which  identification  compare  the  extensive  literature  there  quoted). 

1  Valerius  Flaccus,  Argon.,  II.  533  :  “  Alcides  saxo  surgentia  colla  obruit.” 

2  Hyginus,  Fab.,  89. 

3  Campana  (Giovanni  Pietro),  Antiche  Opere  in  Plastica,  Roma,  1842-52,  pi.  xxi. 

4  Winckelmann,  Mo7iumenti  Antichi,  Roma,  1767,  vol.  i.  pi.  66.  Engraved 
also  by  Guignault,  Religions  de  V Antiquite,  pi.  clxxxii.  No.  663;  and  by  Millin, 
Galerie  Mythologique,  pi.  cxv.  No.  443. 

6  Gerhard,  Gemmenbilder,  Archdologische  Zeitung,  1849,  pi.  vi.  No.  4.  This  is, 
I  presume,  identical  with  the  gem  representing  the  subject,  referred  to  as  in- 
edited  in  Gerhard’s  Apulische  Vasenbilder,  p.  18. 

6  Stark  (K.  B.),  Museographisches,  Archdologischer  Anzeiger,  1853,  No.  52. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


235 


It  appears  to  have  been  an  immediate  result  of  the  rep¬ 
etition  of  the  story  by  Latin  poets,  that  this  delivery  of 
the  Trojan  princess  was  adopted  by  the  decorative  art  of 
the  Romans  as  one  of  the  most  characteristic  exploits  of  the 
heroic  age,  and  perhaps  even  regarded  with  a  certain  na¬ 
tional  pride  in  the  mythical  origin  of  the  earliest  rulers  of 
Latium.  It  was  introduced,  obviously  in  this  significance, 
and  as  typical  of  the  valor  of  Trajan,  that  second  Herakles, 
among  the  reliefs  of  the  Triumphal  Arch  at  Treves,  frag¬ 
ments  of  which  have  recently  been  brought  to  light.1  That 
the  legend  retained  its  place  in  popular  favor  until  - the  very 
latest  ages  of  antiquity  is  furthermore  proved  by  its  appear¬ 
ance  upon  a  Roman  sarcophagus,  referred  by  inscriptions 
to  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  of  our  era,  which  is  pre¬ 
served  in  the  Museum  of  Cologne  ; 2  by  an  altar  of  similar 
character  in  the  palace  garden  of  Durlach;3  and  by  a  frag¬ 
ment  of  a  rude  sandstone  relief  also  discovered  in  the  Rhenish 
Provinces,4  which  shows  the  figure  of  the  chained  Hesione. 

1  Wilmowsky  (J.  N.  von),  Die  rbmische  Villa  zu  ATennig,  fig  4.  Trier,  1868. 

2  Welcker  (F.  G.),  Sarkophag  im  Museum  zu  Koln,  Jahrbuch  des  Vereins  vo?i 
Alterthumsfreunden  tm 4Rheinlan.de,  vol.  vii. ,  Bonn,  1845,  Plates  iii.  and  iv. ;  re¬ 
published  in  the  same  author’s  Alle  Denkmaler,  vol  ii.  Wieseler,  in  the  paper 
in  the  Zeitschrift  fur  Alterthumswissenschaft,  1851,  before  quoted,  has  pointed  out 
that  the  object  held  in  the  hand  of  Herakles  is  the  stone  which  plays  a  part 
in  the  story  as  told  by  Valerius  Flaccus,  —  not  an  apple,  as  supposed  by 
Welcker  in  his  contemptuous  remarks  concerning  the  sculptor. 

3  Urlichs,  Neuster  Zuwacks  des  k.  Museums,  Jahrbuch,  des  Vereins  von  Alter- 
thumsfreunden  im  Rheinlande,  vol.  ix.,  1846,  p.  153. 

4  Engraved  in  the  paper  referred  to  in  the  foregoing  note. 

Upon  a  Roman  sarcophagus  in  the  Villa  Borghese,  apparently  inedited,  Hera¬ 
kles  is  shown  forcing  open  the  jaws  of  a  sea-dragon,  this  deed  standing  next  in 
order  to  the  Battle  with  the  Amazons  in  a  series  of  the  Twelve  Labors. 

Weizsacker,  in  Roscher’s  Lexikon,  Art.  Hesione,  refers  to  a  relief  at  Nime- 
guen,  representing  Andromeda  chained,  as  published  in  the  Bonner  Jahrbuch , 
vol.  xxxiii.  p.  66,  and  vol.  vii.  p.  39,  No.  6.  These  volumes  have  not  been 
accessible  to  me.  On  the  other  hand,  both  Weizsacker  and  Baumeister  have 
failed  to  include  in  their  lists  the  highly  important  relief  for  the  Arch  of  Trajan 
at  Treves,  representing  the  subject  in  a  manner  similar,  yet  decidedly  superior, 


236 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE . 


Upon  sarcophagus  and  altar  the  form  of  the  monster  has  re¬ 
mained  that  of  a  dragon,  with  curled  tail  and  fin-like  feet. 

Let  it  be  observed  that,  without  a  single  exception,  these 
late  works  of  ancient  art  —  all  that  have  hitherto  been  iden¬ 
tified  as  bearing  upon  the  archaic  Greek  story  of  Herakles 
and  the  sea  monster  —  are  creations  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

Homer  recounts  but  two  of  the  exploits  of  Herakles  :  this 
is  one  of  them.  It  is  referred  to  by  the  great  lyric  poet  of 
Boeotia,  by  the  Attic  writers  of  tragedy  and  comedy,  and  by 
prose  authors  of  every  Greek  race  and  of  every  age;  yet  not 
a  single  work  of  Greek  art  has  hitherto  been  admitted  to 
illustrate  it.  Surely  this  is  a  fact  not  less  remarkable  than 
the  existence  of  so  large  a  class  of  vase-paintings  and  reliefs 
unconnected  with  any  known  myth. 

If  the  conclusions  now  advanced  in  respect  to  this  ex¬ 
ploit  be  correctly  drawn,  it  results  that  the  subordinate 
figures  shown  upon  representations  of  Herakles  and  Triton 
must  frequently  be  otherwise  explained  than  has  hitherto 
been  done.  Thus,  to  give  a  single  typical  example,  the 
painting  upon  a  vase  formerly  in  the  Durand  and  Pourtales 
collections,  reproduced  on  a  small  scale  in  Figure  50,  displays 
the  combat  in  a  manner  fully  characteristic  of  the  large  cate¬ 
gory  of  black-figured  vases.  We  see  Herakles,  clothed  with 
the  lion’s  skin  but  wholly  without  weapons,  bestriding  the  back 
of  the  fish-tailed  monster,  and  holding  him  tightly  around 
the  chest  with  hands  interlocked  in  the  labyrinthine  grasp  of 
the  palaistra.  Three  dolphins  beneath  show  the  struggle 

to  that  of  the  Cologne  sarcophagus,  and  published  in  the  work  mentioned  in  a 
preceding  note. 

Altogether  uncertain  is  the  Trojan  coin  of  Septimius  Severus,  retouched  in 
modern  times,  and  thus  rendered  most  untrustworthy,  which  Mionnet,  Descrip¬ 
tion  de  Medailles,  vol.  ii.  p.  664,  No.  224,  describes  as  representing  Herakles 
crowned  by  Hesione. 

This  completes  the  list  of  representations  of  this  subject  known  to  me. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1S83. 


237 


to  take  place  in  the  water.  Upon  the  left,  Poseidon,  accom¬ 
panied  by  Amphitrite,  hastens  with  uplifted  trident  to  the 
aid  of  his  distressed  emissary.  On  the  right,  an  interested 
but  powerless  spectator,  stands  the  white-haired  Laomedon, 
his  royal  state  designated  by  the  ruler’s  staff  which  he  holds 
in  his  hand,  by  the  coronet  upon  his  head,  and  by  his  wide- 


Fig.  50.  The  Struggle  of  Herakles  with  Triton. 
Painting  upon  a  Black-figured  Vase. 


folding  and  sleeved  mantle.  Behind  him  stands  the  coro- 
neted  princess  Hesione,  awaiting,  with  archaic  impassiveness, 
the  issue  of  the  conflict.  Beneath  this  scene  race  the  horses 
of  Tros,  the  promised  reward  of  the  victor,  which  play  so 
prominent  a  part  in  the  subsequent  story.  The  appearance 
of  these  horses,  upon  this  as  upon  other  representations  of  the 
struggle,1  may  possibly  serve  as  a  further  argument  in  favor 

1  As,  for  instance,  the  Munich  vase,  described  by  Jahn,  Beschreibung  der 
Vasensammlung,  No.  391,  and  that  published  by  Brondsted,  Description  of  thirty- 
two  Ancient  Greek  Painted  Vases,  No.  7. 


238 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


of  this  identification  of  the  exploit,  —  the  only  one  with  which 
they  can  be  connected. 

In  the  first  descriptions  of  this  vase-painting,  by  De  Witte1 
and  Dubois,2  the  monster  was  identified  as  Nereus,  the  king 
as  Proteus,  and  Hesione  and  even  Amphitrite  as  Nereids. 
Nereus  was  correctly  called  Triton  by  Gerhard,3  as  before 
stated,  but  the  two  figures  upon  the  right  were,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  present  writer,  wrongly  designated  as  Nereus 
and  Dons.  Gerhard  could  not  but  feel  the  difficulty  of  ex¬ 
plaining  the  quiet  spectator-like  posture  of  this  pair,  which 
contrasts  so  strikingly  with  the  active  advance  of  the  other 
sea  gods  upon  the  opposite  side,  and  to  justify  this  he  was 
forced  to  the  altogether  baseless  and  unnatural  assumption 
that  the  combat  between  Herakles  and  Triton  did  not  take 
place  until  after  Nereus  had  in  some  way  been  induced  to 
favor  the  interests  of  the  hero.  Although  these  subordinate 
figures  seem  so  evidently  intended  for  Laomedon  and  He¬ 
sione,  this  identification  as  Nereus  and  Doris  has  been  un~ 
questioningly  repeated  by  all  modern  authorities.4 

Too  large  a  number  of  vase-paintings  would  require  revision 
in  this  sense  to  permit  of  a  complete  treatment  of  the  sub¬ 
ject  in  this  place.  Suffice  it  to  note  that  the  very  next  plate 
of  Gerhard’s  work5  shows  the  reward  of  the  victor  in  the 
quadrigas  represented  above,  the  fact  of  the  struggle  taking 
place  upon  the  coast  being  indicated  by  dolphins  and  by 
trees;  and  that,  finally,  on  the  isolated  red-figured  vase,  so 
frequently  referred  to,  Laomedon,  characterized  by  the  royal 
staff  and  mantle,  appears  as  a  spectator  of  the  struggle, 

1  De  Witte,  Cabinet  Durand,  No.  302. 

2  Dubois,  Collections  Pourtales-Gorgier,  No.  196. 

8  Gerhard,  Auserlesene  griechische  Vasenbilder,  vol.  ii.  pi.  cxi. 

4  As,  for  instance,  by  Baumeister  and  Furtwangler. 

6  Gerhard,  Auserlesene  griechische  Vasenbilder,  vol.  ii.  pi.  cxii.,  also  described 
in  De  Witte,  Cabinet  Durand,  No.  304. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


239 

standing  before  his  palace,  naively  indicated  by  a  single 
column. 

That  upon  the  Greek  representations  of  the  struggle  He- 
sione  is  never  shown  as  chained  to  the  rock,  and  is  generally 
omitted  altogether,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Greek  legend 
does  not  describe  her  as  present  upon  the  shore  on  this  occa¬ 
sion,  she  having  been  previously  released  by  Herakles,  and 
taken  by  him  from  Cape  Agamias  to  Troy.  In  the  accounts 
given  by  the  Latin  writers  this  is  otherwise,  and  Hesione  is 
in  consequence  invariably  seen  upon  the  Roman  works. 

Laomedon  having  defrauded  Herakles  of  the  promised  re¬ 
ward,  the  hero  revenged  himself,  as  well  as  Poseidon  and 
Apollo,  by  killing  the  deceitful  monarch  and  demolishing 
Troy,  as  mentioned  in  the  Iliad.1  It  is  particularly  worthy 
of  note,  as  an  evidence  of  the  importance  attached  to  this 
legend  by  natives  of  the  country  during  the  historic  period, 
that  Strabo2  found  the  inhabitants  of  Ilion  offering  no  wor¬ 
ship  to  Herakles,  because,  as  they  explained,  of  a  feeling  of 
resentment  which  they  entertained  on  account  of  this  de¬ 
struction  of  their  town.  Nothing  could  better  illustrate  that 
antique  spirit  of  local  patriotism  which  leads  us  to  attach 
great  weight  to  specifically  localized  traditions  in  the  exe¬ 
gesis  of  works  of  art  such  as  this.  At  Assos,  with  its  Aeolic 
population,  Herakles  was  the  object  of  peculiar  veneration, 
and  it  is  not  strange  that  the  one  exploit  of  the  national 
hero  which  was  intimately  connected  with  the  province 
should  have  been  represented  upon  the  walls  of  the  chief 
temple  of  the  Southern  Troad.  The  defeat  of  the  Triton 
which  threatened  Hesione,  and  the  consequent  dethronement 
of  the  unjust  Trojan  king,  cannot  but  have  been  regarded  as 

1  Iliad, ,  V.  640.  Compare  also  the  other  authorities  for  the  legend,  quoted 
above,  especially  Diodoros,  IV.  49. 

a  Strabo,  XIII.  p.  596. 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


24O 

significant  of  the  emancipation  of  the  country  by  Hellenic 
valor.  It  certainly  presented  the  most  fitting  subject  for 
the  decoration  of  the  first  monument  erected  by  the  Greek 
colonists  of  the  Troad  after  their  deliverance  from  Persian 

tyranny. 

The  choice  had,  moreover,  a  religious  as  well  as  a  national 
relevancy.  It  was  Athena  who  participated  with  the  hero 
in  the  performance  of  this  exploit,  by  erecting  the  rampart 
which  was  to  serve  for  his  protection :  it  was  upon  the  walls 
of  Athena’s  temple  that  the  struggle  was  depicted. 

The  second  in  size  and  importance  among  the  Assos  reliefs 
of  the  Louvre  —  a  corner  block,  like  that  which  we  have  just 
considered  —  represents  four  men  reclining  at  a  symposion 
(Fig.  51).  They  are  waited  upon  by  a  fifth,  who,  standing 
upright,  is,  by  reason  of  the  isocephalism,  of  much  smaller 
proportions  than  the  others.  As  the  chief  figures  are  more 
inclined,  the  difference  of  scale  is  even  more  marked  in  this 
composition  than  in  that  of  Herakles  and  Triton.1  Each  of 
the  banqueters  holds  in  his  left  hand  a  drinking  cup,  the  fore¬ 
most,  at  the  left,  being  provided  with  two  such  vessels,  one 
of  which  the  attendant  fills  from  an  oinochoe,  replenished 
from  a  huge  krater  standing  behind  him. 

The  only  notable  act  depicted  upon  the  relief,  and  that 
which  evidently  forms  the  subject  of  the  scene,  is  the  pre¬ 
sentation  of  a  strap-like  girdle  by  the  second  figure  on  the 

1  Texier  ( Description ,  vol.  ii.)  remarks  that  the  cupbearer  is  made  smaller  be¬ 
cause  of  his  less  dignity  •,  but  this  subordination  is  obviously  the  result  of,  rather 
than  the  reason  for,  the  great  difference  in  proportions.  In  compositions  such  as 
these,  archaic  artists  displayed  their  ability  by  so  arranging  the  positions,  while 
adhering  to  the  principle  of  isocephalism,  as  to  give  prominence  to  the  chiet  g- 
ures.  Upon  Etruscan  reliefs  and  wall  paintings  representing  funeral  banquets, 
a  more  perfect  scale  of  proportions  was  rendered  possible,  while  keeping  all  the 
heads  upon  the  same  level,  by  elevating  the  reclining  figures  upon  couches. 
Compare,  for  instance,  the  relief  found  at  Chiusi,  and  published  by  Micali, 
Monumenti ,  pi.  xxiii.  Even  here  the  upright  figures  are  too  small. 


w 

l-I 

b 

a 

w 

H 

w 

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(4 

Co 

b 

w 


w 

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w 

►J 

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b 

w 


VO 

o 

Pb 


242 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


right  to  the  first.  The  recipient  places  his  hand  upon  his 
heart  in  an  eloquent  gesture  of  humble  and  almost  hypocrit¬ 
ical  obligation.  The  scene  thus  depicted  is  conceived  by  the 
present  writer  to  be  the  delivery  by  Herakles  to  Eurystheus 
of  the  girdle  of  Hippolyte,  well  known  as  the  trophy  of  the 
expedition  against  the  Amazons. 

If  this  identification  be  correct,  the  subject  forms  a  contin¬ 
uation  of  the  one  represented  upon  the  corresponding  block  ; 
for  it  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  contest  of  Herakles  with 
the  sea  monster,  and  the  deliverance  of  Hesione,  by  which 
the  hero  was  so  intimately  connected  with  the  Troad,  was  an 
episode  of  that  expedition  which  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the 
Amazon  queen.1  Apollodoros  makes  particular  mention  of 
the  fact  that  the  girdle  was  given  to  Eurystheus  by  Herakles 
himself.2  And  it  is  an  accepted  belief  among  critics  of  the 
text,  that,  in  his  concise  relation  of  the  exploits,  Apollodoros 
has  given  us  an  abridgment  of  the  work  of  Hellanikos  of 
Lesbos,  greatest  of  the  early  logographers,  who,  as  a  native  of 
the  parent  city  of  Assos,  writing  in  the  very  age  to  which  the 
building  of  this  temple  is  referable,  would  certainly  be  the  best 
possible  authority  for  the  version  of  the  legend  followed  by 
the  designer  of  these  sculptures.  That,  moreover,  the  de¬ 
livery  of  the  girdle  in  the  residence  of  Eurystheus  was  a 
detail  of  the  story  regarded  with  peculiar  satisfaction  by  the 
Greeks,  is  apparent  from  the  words  of  Euripides  concern¬ 
ing  this  expedition :  “  For  Hellas  received  the  rich  spoils  of 
the  barbarian  maid,  and  they  are  safely  kept  at  Mykenai.  3 

1  Apollodoros,  II.  5.  9.  It  was  related  by  Hellanikos  (Frag.  33,  ed.  Muller, 
p,  49,  preserved  by  the  Scholiast  to  Pindar,  Nem .,  III.  64)  that  the  Argonauts 
accompanied  Herakles  in  his  expedition  against  the  Amazons,  and  thus  the  ex¬ 
ploit  gradually  came  to  be  treated  as  a  mere  episode  of  this  cruise.  Compare 
Diodoros,  IV.  42,  49;  Apollonios  of  Rhodes,  II.  967  ;  Valerius  Flaccus,  V.  132. 

2  Apollodoros,  II.  5.  9  :  Ko/xlaas  Be  tBv  fao-rripa  ds  Mvicfivas,  eSwitev  Evpva6G. 

8  Euripides,  Here.  Fur.,  416  :  to.  /cAeiya  S’  'RAA&s  eAa0e  fiapfiapou  Kopos  A atpvpa, 

Kal  ai ifer’  iv  MvK^vais. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


243 


These  direct  references  to  the  delivery  of  this  prize  may  be 
held  to  outweigh  an  isolated  account  of  late  date  as  to  the 
strained  relations  existing  between  Herakles  and  Eurystheus, 
according  to  which  the  cowardly  king,  after  the  fright  ex¬ 
perienced  in  receiving  the  Erymanthian  boar,  —  on  which 
occasion  he  had  crept  away  to  hide  himself  in  a  brazen  jar,1  — 
refused  to  give  personal  audience  to  the  hero. 2 

The  feat  of  Herakles  in  obtaining  the  girdle  was  one  popu¬ 
lar  in  archaic  art,3  and  upon  the  few  vase  paintings  which 
display  the  girdle  itself  this  object  is  of  a  form  entirely  sim¬ 
ilar  to  that  shown  upon  our  relief.4  With  exception  of  the 

1  Thus  related  by  Diodoros,  IV.  n.  3.  Apollodoros  (II.  5.  1)  refers  the 
fright  of  Eurystheus  to  the  sight  of  the  Nemean  lion.  This  picturesque  story 
of  the  king  hiding  away  from  the  terrible  beasts  brought  into  his  house  is  un¬ 
doubtedly  of  great  antiquity,  being  shown  upon  archaic  vases  referable  to  the 
close  of  the  sixth  century.  That  the  event  was  not,  however,  originally  held 
to  have  resulted  in  the  entire  exclusion  of  Herakles  from  the  presence  of  his 
royal  cousin  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  Apollodoros,  in  his  subsequent  ac¬ 
count  of  the  delivery  of  the  Erymanthian  boar  (II.  5.  4)  and  of  the  mares  of 
Diomedes  (II.  5  8),  as  well  as  of  the  girdle  of  Hippolyte,  describes  the  hero  as 
entering  Mykenai,  and  on  one  such  occasion,  when  returning  with  the  Cretan 
bull,  as  himself  showing  the  animal  to  Eurystheus  (II.  5.  7). 

Diodoros  gives  a  similar  account  of  interviews  between  the  two,  and  makes 
no  mention  of  any  refusal  to  grant  personal  audience. 

2  Venetian  Scholiast  to  the  Iliad,  XV.  639,  following  the  passage  of  Apollo¬ 
doros  (II.  5  1),  commented  upon  in  the  foregoing  note.  The  Victorian  Scholiast 
to  the  same  passage  of  the  Iliad  gives  another  explanation  of  the  relationship 
between  the  hero  and  the  king,  which  is  in  like  manner  recognizable  as  a  per¬ 
version  of  the  original  legend,  and  well  illustrates  how  freely  such  alterations 
and  additions  were  circulated  during  the  later  ages  of  antiquity.  This  is  that 
Eurystheus  was  the  pederast  of  Herakles,  who  executed  the  labors  at  his  behest 
on  account  of  this  unnatural  affection.  If  any  weight  at  all  be  attached  to  these 
late  embellishments  of  the  tale,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  latter  asserts  the 
continuation  of  personal  intercourse  denied  by  the  former, 

3  Compare  the  review  of  this  subject  given  by  Jahn  (Otto),  Ercole  covi - 
lattente  le  Amazzoni,  Annali,  vol.  xxxvi.,  Roma,  1864. 

4  As,  for  instance,  upon  the  vase  referable  to  the  close  of  the  fifth  cen¬ 
tury,  published  by  Welcker,  Herakles  und  die  Amazonenkonigin,  Archdologische 
Zettung,  Berlin,  1856,  pi.  89.  The  extensive  ancient  literature  in  regard  to  the 
girdle  is  fully  given  by  Kliigmann  (Adolf),  Die  Amazonen  in  der  Attischen  Lite- 
ratur  und  Kzinst,  Stuttgart,  1875,  particularly  in  notes  19  to  23.  The  classic 


244 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE . 


girdle  no  attributes  are  represented,  and  no  peculiar  features 
distinguish  the  four  reclining  figures ;  unless,  indeed,  we  may 
put  this  interpretation  upon  the  fact  that  Herakles  alone  is 
provided  with  a  deep-lipped  drinking  bowl,1  each  of  the 
others  holding  in  the  left  hand  a  kantharos  of  the  ordinary 
type.  The  shallow  vessel  without  handles,  uplifted  by  the 
right  hand  of  the  foremost  figure,  and  filled  by  the  attendant, 
is  a  phiale,  such  as  was  customarily  used  for  libations ;  and 
that  it  had  this  significance  in  this  case  seems  evident  from 
the  fact  that  the  member  of  the  banquet  who  holds  it  has, 
like  the  others,  a  drinking  vessel  for  his  own  use  in  his  left 
hand. 

An  identification  of  the  two  figures  at  the  left,  who  thus 
appear  as  guests  at  the  royal  table  of  Eurystheus,  is  neither 
requisite  nor  possible.  It  is  obvious  that  they  were  intro¬ 
duced  for  the  sole  purpose  of  filling  out  the  elongated  panel. 
They  belong  to  that  class  of  figurants  of  which  the  ancient 
designers  and  vase  painters  possessed  so  large  a  retinue. 

The  variety  and  elegance  of  the  seven  vases  represented 
upon  the  relief  may,  as  will  be  argued  in  a  subsequent  con¬ 
nection,  be  taken  as  an  indication  of  the  fact  that  the  work  is 
not  referable  to  any  period  more  remote  than  the  Lydian  and 
Persian  invasion  ;  and  the  same  conclusion,  if  any,  is  to  be 
drawn  from  the  reclining  postures  of  the  banqueters.  The 
Greeks  of  the  Homeric  poems,  as  is  well  known,  sat  at  their 

authors,  however,  devote  their  descriptions  rather  to  the  brilliancy  and  great 
value  of  the  trophy  than  to  its  shape. 

1  It  may  be  observed  that  Herakles  holds  a  cup  of  the  same  shape  in  his 
symposion  with  Pholos,  as  represented  upon  the  archaic  vase  published  by  Ger¬ 
hard,  Herakles  bei  Pholos  und  Busiris,  Archdologische  Zeitung ,  1865,  and  that 
his  position  there  is  precisely  that  of  Eurystheus  upon  the  Assian  relief,  —  the 
left  elbow  leaning  upon  a  cushion,  the  right  arm  crossing  the  breast.  The  ex¬ 
ceptional  direction  of  the  composition,  from  right  to  left,  is  also  the  same,  and 
likewise  points  to  some  common  prototype.  The  peculiar  attitude  is  doubtless 
that  to  which  Lucian  ( Conviv .,  XIV.)  refers  as  customary  in  paintings  of  the 
banquet  of  Herakles  and  Pholos. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883 . 


245 


meals  and  drinking  bouts  j1  and  upon  the  celebrated  vase  of 
Sosias  in  the  Berlin  Museum,  —  a  work  of  severe  style,  yet 
red-figured,  —  the  gods  of  Olympos  are  shown  seated  at  their 
carousal.2  Reclining  at  table  was  originally  an  Oriental 
usage  as  may  be  gathered  from  the  domestic  scenes  depicted 
upon  Assyrian  monuments,  and  it  has  been  plausibly  assumed 
to  have  been  introduced  to  Hellenic  life  by  the  Ionians.3  At 
just  what  period  this  custom  became  general  is,  however,  by 
no  means  certain,  and  no  definite  terminus  post  quern  can  be 
derived  from  the  adoption  of  this  posture  upon  the  Assian 
relief.  Still  it  appears  worthy  of  further  consideration  in  this, 
sense,  that  all  the  banqueters  are  here  shown  as  leaning  luxu¬ 
riously  upon  cushions,  in  like  Oriental  fashion.  Long  after 
the  Greeks  had  accustomed  themselves  to  recline  at  table, 
they  continued  to  employ  plain  couches  for  this  purpose.4 
Even  in  the  third  century  the  Spartans  “  were  wont  to  lie 
upon  bare  benches  during  the  whole  banquet,”  and  “  hesi¬ 
tated  to  put  their  elbows  upon  the  pillows  ”  which  had^  come 
into  fashion  at  court  during  the  reigns  of  Areus  and  Akro- 
tatos.5 

Notwithstanding  the  obvious  indication  afforded  by  the 
girdle,  none  of  the  writers  who  have  discussed  the  subject  of 

1  Iliad ,  XXIV.  475,  515 ;  Odyssey,  VII.  203,  XXL  89. 

2  Furtwangler,  Beschreibung  der  Vasensammlung  tin  Antiquanum,  Berlin, 
1885,  No.  2278,  where  see  the  very  extensive  literature  concerning  this  vase. 

3  By  Muller  (Carl  Otfried),  Geschichten  Hellenischer  Stdmme  und  Stddte : 
Die  Dorier,  2d  ed.,  Breslau,  1844,  IV.  3.  1.  The  author  further  concludes,  from 
a  passage  of  Alkman  preserved  by  Athenaios  (III.  75),  that  the  Greeks  of  the 
age  of  that  poet  reclined  at  meals,  inasmuch  as  klinai  are  mentioned  as  being 
provided  for  the  guests.  Alkman,  however,  who  was  himself  a  Lydian  by  birth, 
appears  to  have  described  in  these  lines  the  lavishness  of  some  Oriental  banquet. 
The  similar  change  in  the  customs  of  the  Romans  was  effected  at  a  much  later 
date,  and  was  particularly  mentioned  by  Varro.  Compare  Servius,  ad  Aen., 
VII.  176,  and  Isidorus,  Orig.,  XX.  11.  9. 

<  Plutarch,  Lycurg.,  XVIII.,  Athenaios,  XII.  15,  p.  518;  Souidas,  J.  2-. 
4>i\lna  and  A vKovpyos ;  Cicero,  Pro  Muraena,  XXXV. 

6  Phylarchos,  Hist.,  XV.  and  XX.,  preserved  by  Athenaios,  IV.  20,  p.  142. 


f 


246  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 

this  relief  have  connected  it  in  any  way  with  the  expedition 
of  Herakles  against  the  Amazon  queen  and  the  possession 
of  this  trophy.  Indeed,  none  of  the  reliefs  has  been  more 
misunderstood.  Thus,  Poujoulat  conceived  it  to  represent 
“  women  upon  a  couch,  their  long  hair,  which  forms  their 
only  covering,  floating  carelessly  upon  their  shoulders.”  1  The 
block  happens  to  be  so  fractured  as  to  form  two  chief  pieces, 
each  containing  two  banqueters,  and  it  was  attached  to  the 
walls  of  the  Louvre  joint  surface  to  joint  surface,  so  that  Eu- 
rystheus  rested  his  elbow  against  the  krater  at  the  other  end 
of  the  relief.  It  was  thus  displayed  to  the  public  for  half  a 
century,  until,  in  1886,  the  writer  called  the  attention  of  M.  de 
Villefosse  to  the  matter,  and  the  fragments  were  correctly 
adjoined.  This  failure  rightly  to  connect  the  figures  natu¬ 
rally  rendered  the  subject  still  more  unintelligible.  Clarac 
was  thereby  led  to  consider  the  relief  as  containing  two  sepa¬ 
rate  represen tations?  IMenelaos  and  Proteus  cn  poiiTpavlcvs 
(right  half),  and  Menelaos  and  Proteus  d 'accord  (left  half).2 
Texier,  who  correctly  combined  the  groups  in  his  engraving,3 
described  the  scene  as  the  feast  of  Perithoos,  which,  in  view 
of  the  huge  wine  jar,  and  the  centaurs  of  the  other  reliefs,  was 
not  so  bad  a  guess.  More  modern  critics  and  historians  of 

1  Michaud  et  Poujoulat,  Correspotidance  d' Orient,  vol,  iii,,  Paris  18  r4 

Lettre  LX IX.  ’  V 

2  Clarac,  Musee,  vol.  ii.  seconde  partie,  Paris,  1841,  The  account  is  too  good 
not  to  be  given  as  a  last  quotation  from  this  delightful  book  :  “  Nous  retrouvons 
encore  ici  Menelas  et  Protee ;  ils  sont  a  peu  pres  d’accord,  et  le  heros  l’a  emporte 
sur  la  resistance  opiniatre  du  dieu  marin  qui  semble  deja  lui  avoir  appris  une 
partie  de  ce  qui  l’interesse  et  qui,  partageant  avec  lui  la  coupe  de  l’hospitalite, 
cherche  par  ses  demonstrations,  et  en  posant  sa  main  sur  son  cceur,  a  le  con- 
vaincre  de  sa  franchise.  Le  Roi  de  Sparte  n’a  pas  une  entiere  confiance  en  ses 
protestations,  et  1  espece  de  bandelette  qu’il  presente  d’un  air  serieux  a  Protee, 
n  indiquerait-elle  pas  que,  s  il  ne  lui  tient  pas  entierement  ses  promesses,  il  va 
revenir  encore  a  la  force,  et  l’entourer  de  liens  dont  il  ne  lui  sera  pas  si  facile 
de  se  degager  ?  ” 

3  Texier,  Description  d'Asie  Mineure,  vol.  ii.  pi.  ii4;  re-engraved  in  the  vol¬ 
ume  of  L'Utiivers  entitled  Asie  Mineure,  Paris,  1862,  pi.  15. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


247 


Greek  art  have  been  less  committal  in  regard  to  the  subject, 
concerning  which,  in  the  entire  lack  of  parallel  representa¬ 
tions  among  the  known  works  of  ancient  art,  an  absolute 
certainty  is  perhaps  not  attainable. 

The  positions  originally  occupied  by  many  of  the  sculp¬ 
tured  epistyle  blocks  are  ascertainable  from  an  elaborate 
calculation,  having  for  its  base  the  various  widths  of  the 
intercolumniations  of  fronts,  sides,  and  corners,  the  various 
lengths  of  the  regulas  and  half-regulas  carved  upon  the  pan¬ 
els,  and  that  peculiarity  of  the  Greek  Doric  entablature  by 
which  the  corner  metope  is  removed  from  the  axis  of  the 
corner  column  to  the  corner  of  the  frieze.  To  these  definite 
facts  there  are  to  be  added,  as  secondary  indications,  the 
kindred  nature  of  the  subjects  represented  in  certain  cases 
upon  adjoining  reliefs,  the  direction  of  the  compositions  to¬ 
wards  the  central  panels  of  the  fronts,  and,  finally,  the  rela¬ 
tive  positions  in  which  the  overthrown  blocks  obtained  by 
the  American  excavations  were  discovered.  In  the  case  of 
those  reliefs  which  were  removed  from  the  site  by  the 
French,  the  last  mentioned  of  these  indications  has,  unfor¬ 
tunately,  not  been  put  on  record.  Moreover,  these  blocks 
have  been  deprived  of  many  of  their  characteristic  features, 
such  as  pry-holes,  corner  joint  surfaces,  and  relative  thick¬ 
nesses  of  boss  and  soffit,  by  being  sawed  to  thin  slabs,  in 
order  to  facilitate  their  attachment  to  the  walls  of  the 
Louvre. 

In  view  of  the  shattered  and  defaced  condition  of  the  great 
majority  of  these  stones,  the  results  attained  through  this 
examination  cannot  but  be  regarded  as  surprisingly  full.  Of 
the  forty-four  epistyle  beams  of  the  temple,  only  fifteen  sculp¬ 
tured  panels  are  now  known  ;  and  of  these  fifteen,  but  a  single 
one  remains  entire.  Only  four  are  sufficiently  represented 


248 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


by  fragments  to  permit  the  measurement  of  their  original 
lengths,  and  three  of  these,  again,  are  deprived  of  one  or  both 
of  those  half-regulas  which  alone  can  supply  trustworthy  in¬ 
dications  as  to  width  of  span.  Yet,  notwithstanding  this,  the 
relative  position  of  every  one  of  the  reliefs  is  now  known. 
Thirteen  may  be  assigned  to  their  exact  positions  ;  and  in 
regard  to  but  two  small  fragments,  belonging  to  the  series  of 
wild  beasts,  can  any  doubt  obtain  as  to  the  particular  inter- 
columniation  which  they  occupied. 

The  lengths  of  the  entablature,  side  and  front,  not  includ¬ 
ing  the  projection  of  the  tainia,  or  of  the  band  bordering  the 
panels  upon  the  lower  edge,  may  be  accurately  ascertained 
by  subtracting  from  the  corresponding  dimensions  of  the 
stylobate  the  lower  diameter  of  the  column,  plus  twice  the 
distance  of  the  arris  from  the  rise  of  the  upper  step,  and 
adding  to  this  result  the  thickness  of  the  epistyle.  For  the 
fronts  the  dimension  thus  obtained  is  13.89  m.  Assuming, 
for  the  purpose  of  preliminary  examination,  the  columns  of 
the  fagades  to  have  been  equally  spaced,  it  is  evident  that  the 
corner  panels  would  have  a  length  of  about  3.03  m.,  while 
the  three  inner  beams  would  have  averaged  2.61  m.  The 
length  of  the  side  entablature  is  in  like  manner  found  to  have 
been  30.17  m.  As  it  is  known  from  the  marks  upon  the 
stylobate  that  the  corner  intercolumniations  of  the  sides  were 
somewhat  larger  than  the  others,1  —  the  clear  opening  between 
the  shafts  being  in  one  instance  1.568  m.,  —  the  corner  blocks 
must  have  been  2.9  m.  long,  and  the  others  have  averaged 
2.44  m.  We  might  hence  expect  to  find  four  distinct  classes 
of  epistyle  beams,  respectively  2.44,  2.61,  2.90,  and  3.03  m.  in 
length. 

It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind,  in  this  examination,  that  the  half- 
regulas  carved  upon  the  ends  of  the  panels  are  often  consid- 


1  See  page  76  of  the  present  volume. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


249 


erably  longer  or  shorter  than  one  half  the  width  of  the 
triglyphs,  thus  proving  the  joints  of  the  lintels  to  have  been 
displaced  from  the  axes  of  the  columns.  While  the  triglyphs 
average  52  cm.  upon  the  sides,  and  56  cm.  upon  the  fronts, 
the  half-regulas  vary  from  11  to  38  cm.,  showing  the  joints  to 
have  been  occasionally  as  much  as  15  cm.  out  of  centre.1  In 
the  calculation  of  the  corresponding  intercolumniations,  the 
plus  or  minus,  thus  definitely  ascertainable,  has  of  course  to 
be  taken  into  account. 

The  first  fact  to  be  recorded  is,  that  the  unsculptured  epi¬ 
style  blocks  discovered  upon  the  site  were,  without  exception, 
of  a  length  corresponding  to  an  intercolumniation  not  greater 
than  2.45  m.,  and  are  consequently  to  be  assigned  to  the 
sides  of  the  building. 

Turning  to  the  reliefs,2  we  find  three  which,  including  the 

corner  lap,  must  have  had  a  total  length  of  over  three  meters, 

* 

and  consequently  must  have  occupied  three  of  the  four  cor¬ 
ners  of  the  facades.  These  are  the  Herakles  and  Triton,  the 
Banquet,  and  the  Herakles  and  Pholos. 

1  A  further  proof  of  this  fact,  derived  from  differences  in  the  character  of 
the  tooling  upon  the  soffits  of  the  epistyle  beams,  has  been  given  on  page  85  of 
the  present  volume 

2  The  twenty-two  drawings  of  the  Assos  reliefs  following  in  the  text  are 
given,  not  as  adequate  illustrations  of  the  sculptures,  but  as  displaying  all  these 
blocks  in  their  character  as  architectural  members.  The  total  length  of  each 
lintel  when  complete  is  given  in  centimeters  by  the  figures  beneath,  those  above 
indicating  the  length  of  the  regulas,  and  of  the  spaces  betwen  them,  which  cor¬ 
respond  to  the  metopes.  The  writer  is  responsible  for  these  measurements, 
which  were  taken  in  Paris  and  at  Assos  from  the  blocks  themselves.  In  the 
outlines  of  the  sculptures  which  are  preserved  in  the  Louvre  he  has,  however, 
followed  a  series  of  sketches  made  by  Mr.  Bacon  prior  to  the  commencement  of 
the  excavations  These  sketches  were  not  drawn  to  strict  scale,  and  those  who 
desire  to  verify  the  arguments  dependent  upon  the  dimensions  of  these  reliefs 
should  base  their  calculations  upon  the  figures  accompanying  these  cuts  and 
given  in  the  text.  The  dots  follow  the  architectural  lines  obliterated  from  the 
blocks,  and  give  the  probable  length  of  the  missing  members.  They  furthermore 
show  the  de  viation  of  the  lintels  from  the  normal  lengths  by  indicating  the  axes 
of  the  columns. 


250 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


The  first  mentioned  (Fig.  52),  though  fractured,  is  pre¬ 
served  in  its  entire  length,  which  measures  not  less  than 
2.95  m.  The  half-regula  at  the  left-hand  side  of  the  block  is 
about  8  cm.  too  long,  and  this  amount  is  to  be  deducted  in 
calculating  the  width  of  the  corresponding  intercolumniation. 
But,  as  an  entire  regula  is  not  cut  at  either  end,  at  least 
20  cm.  must  be  added  in  order  to  make  up  the  length  of  the 
lintel  from  axis  to  angle;  and  this  total  of  3.05  furnishes  a 
decisive  proof  that  the  stone  was  above  one  of  the  corners  of 


35  90°  575 


Fig.  52.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  northernmost  Intercolumniation 

of  the  Eastern  FAgADE. 

Series  relating  to  the  Rescue  of  Hesione. 


the  fronts,  and  not  one  of  the  corners  of  the  sides.  It  is  fur¬ 
thermore  evident  that  the  laps  forming  the  corners  of  the 
entablature  were  cut  upon  the  epistyle  blocks  of  the  sides, 
and  not  upon  those  of  the  fronts.  Ample  grounds  for  the 
adoption  of  this  arrangement  are  to  be  found  in  the  consid¬ 
eration  that  the  quarrymen  were  thus  required  to  provide, 
and  the  builders  to  handle,  eight  blocks  of  but  2  90  or  2.95, 
instead  of  four  of  2.70,  and  four  of  not  less  than  3.10  or 
3.15  m.,  —  an  immense  saving  in  practical  respects,  of  wdiich 
the  primitive  builders,  ill  provided  with  machines  for  trans¬ 
porting  and  lifting  such  heavy  stones,  must  have  well  been 
aware.  Even  as  it  h,  these  front  corners  of  the  epistyle  are 
the  heaviest  and  most  awkward  stones  employed  in  the  edi- 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1S83.  25  I 

fice,  weighing  half  as  much  again  as  the  bulky  corner  cornice 
blocks,  and  being  much  more  difficult  to  set.  The  fact  that 
another  relief  is  known  to  have  occupied  the  southern  corner 
of  the  eastern  front,  while  two  reliefs  of  an  entirely  different 
subject  adjoined  the  northern  corner  block  of  the  western 
front  upon  either  hand,  and,  above  all,  the  grouping  and  move¬ 
ment  of  the  composition,  leave  little  doubt  that  the  right- 
hand  end  of  this  panel,  and  not  the  left,  was  outermost.  The 
hero  has  driven  the  monster  into  a  corner ;  the  affrighted 
spectators  fly  towards  the  middle  of  the  entablature.  From 
a  decorative  point  of  view,  also,  the  broad  masses  formed  by 
the  bodies  of  the  combatants  are  of  decidedly  better  effect  at 
the  outer  end,  the  upright  lines  of  the  smaller  figures  at  the 
inner.  Hence  the  lap  has  been  drawn  in  Figure  52  upon  the 
right  hand  of  the  lintel ;  and  we  only  remain  in  doubt  whether 
to  assign  the  block  to  the  northern  corner  of  the  eastern,  or 
the  southern  corner  of  the  western  facade,  —  a  point  in  re¬ 
gard  to  which  no  immediate  decision  is  possible,  as  we  have 
no  information  concerning  the  position  in  which  these  reliefs 
were  found.  Certain  indications  derived  from  the  spacing 
of  the  metopes,  and  pointing  to  the  probability  that  the 
Herakles  and  Triton  occupied  the  eastern,  and  the  Banquet 
the  western  facade,  will  be  adduced  in  another  connection. 
The  distance  from  the  central  regula  to  the  joint  sur¬ 
face  upon  the  right  hand  of  the  lintel  is  1.12  m.  At  this 
end  the  half-regula  has  been  split  away,  but  it  appears 
scarcely  possible  that  the  member  can  have  had  a  greater 
length  than  27  cm.  As  the  corner  triglyph  is  known,  in 
one  instance  at  least,  to  have  been  52  cm.  square  in  plan,  it 
follows  that  25  cm.,  or  thereabouts,  is  to  be  added  to  the 
actual  length  of  the  lintel.  Thus  it  is  evident  that  the  entire 
panel,  from  joint  to  angle,  cannot  have  been  less  than  3.2  m. 
in  length. 


252  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE . 

It  was  more  difficult  to  obtain  an  accurate  measurement  of 
the  relief  of  the  Banquet,  this  being  broken  into  four  pieces, 
which  were,  at  the  time  of  examination,  arranged  upon  the 
walls  of  the  Louvre  in  incorrect  sequence,  and  not  very 
closely  fitted  together.  Still,  the  total  length  of  2.86  m., 
given  upon  the  drawing  (Fig.  53,  compare  Fig.  51),  can 
hardly  involve  a  greater  error  than  one  inch.  The  half- 
regulas  in  this  case  are  both  excessive,  measuring  36  and 
38  cm.  The  larger  of  these  was  outermost,  and  adjoined 


30  76  50  80  38 


Fig.  53.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  southernmost  Intercolumniation 

of  the  Western  Facade. 

Series  relating  to  the  Girdle  of  Hippolyte. 


the  lap,  the  thickness  of  which  hence  cannot  have  exceeded 
18  cm.,  while  it  may  not  have  been  greater  than  14  cm., 
being  in  either  case  the  thinnest  block  of  andesite  employed 
in  the  construction  of  the  temple.  The  object  of  thus  re¬ 
stricting  the  width  of  the  lap  was  evidently  to  extend  the 
sculptured  surface  of  this  panel  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the 
corner.  The  length  of  the  epistyle  from  axis  to  angle  was 
about  2.96  m.  ;  of  the  entire  panel,  including  lap,  about 
3.04  m.  That  the  right-hand  end  of  the  block,  and  not  the 
left,  adjoined  the  corner  is  indicated  by  the  direction  of  the 
composition,  —  the  banqueters  naturally  facing  the  middle  of 
the  facade,  —  as  well  as  by  the  points  referred  to  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  relief  of  Herakles  and  Triton,  which  is  thus 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


253 


seen  to  have  been  placed  upon  the  corner  of  the  building 
diagonally  opposite. 

The  third  front  corner  block  is  that  sculptured  with  the 
figures  of  Herakles  and  Pholos,  discovered  during  the  Amer¬ 
ican  excavations.  (Fig.  54.)  It  presents  fewer  factors  for 
the  calculation  than  do  the  others,  inasmuch  as  the  two  frag¬ 
ments  remaining  do  not  constitute  the  entire  lintel,  a  con¬ 
siderable  portion,  including  one  of  the  half-regulas,  being 
missing  from  the  left  hand  side.  Furthermore,  the  half- 


Fig  54.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  southernmost  Intercolumniation 

of  the  Eastern  Faqade. 

Series  relating  to  the  Centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe. 


regula  from  the  other  end  has  been  split  away  from  the  sur- 
face.  From  the  end  of  the  central  regula  to  the  joint  upon 
the  right  is  1.05  m. ;  and  it  is  83  cm.  from  the  other  end  to 
the  fracture  upon  the  left,  where  no  commencement  of  the 
half-regula  is  visible,  although  the  tainia  is  perfectly  sharp. 
Measured  along  the  lower  edge  of  the  tainia,  the  total  length 
recovered  is  2.43  m.  ;  and  if  the  dimension  of  the  missing 
member  be  added  to  this  we  have  a  lintel  of  not  less  than 
2.7  m.,  —  much  too  long  to  permit  us  to  assign  it  to  any  of 
the  inner  intercolumniations.  That  it  furthermore  occupied 
a  front,  and  not  a  side  corner,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  a 
half,  and  not  a  whole  regula,  was  cut  upon  the  end  remaining 
intact,  which,  as  may  be  concluded  from  the  direction  of  the 
composition,  and  from  other  indications,  would  be  that  occu- 


254 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


pying  the  angle  of  the  building,  if  the  relief  had  been  assigned 
to  a  side  corner.  All  these  considerations  are  in  agreement 
with  the  theory  that  this  relief  was  placed  at  the  southern 
corner  of  the  eastern  front,  beneath  which  it  was  found.  By 
adding  to  the  extent  of  the  remaining  fragment  the  dimension 
of  the  corner  regula,  we  see  that  the  entire  panel,  from  joint 
to  angle,  must  have  been  at  least  2.95  m.  in  length,  and  may 
have  been  more. 

It  wdl  subsequently  be  shown,  by  a  calculation  based  upon 
the  lengths  of  the  two  adjoining  blocks,  that,  assuming  the 
middle  triglyph  of  the  front  to  have  occupied  the  exact  centre 
of  the  entablature,  this  corner  stone,  plus  the  width  of  the 
angle  lap,  must  have  had  a  length  of  exactly  3.085  m.;  or,  in 
other  words,  that  the  panel  from  axis  to  angle  was  precisely 
the  3.03  m.  requisite  according  to  the  width  of  the  correspond¬ 
ing  intercolumniation.  It  is  thus  susceptible  of  proof,  that 
a  fragment  of  the  relief  has  been  broken  away  just  large 
enough  to  contain  the  equine  body  of  Pholos,  —  a  fact  to 
which  reference  has  been  made  in  the  consideration  of  the 
sculptured  subject.1 

A  similar  calculation,  if  it  be  not  affected  by  a  want  of 
symmetry  in  the  position  of  the  central  triglyph  of  the  front,2 
proves  that  the  disproportion  between  the  widths  of  the  two 
metopes  above  the  relief  even  exceeded  the  very  considerable 

1  Page  1 51  of  the  present  volume. 

2  The  probability  that  some  slight  correction  in  this  sense  is  necessary  in 
order  to  determine  the  exact  dimensions  of  these  epistyle  blocks,  is  indicated  by 
the  fact  that  the  stele  upon  which  the  confronting  sphinxes  of  the  eastern  facade 
rest  their  paws,  and  which  marks  the  centre  of  the  symmetrical  composition,  is 
itself  removed  about  two  centimeters  from  the  axis  of  the  regula  above  it.  It  is, 
however,  impossible  to  make  allowance  for  a  variation  of  this  nature,  in  the  ab¬ 
sence  of  one  of  the  epistyle  blocks  of  the  front.  The  dimensions  given  in  the 
text  must  approximate  very  closely  to  the  actual  sizes,  and  serve  the  most  impor¬ 
tant  purpose  of  this  consideration,  namely,  the  determination  of  the  positions  of 
the  known  reliefs,  and  the  projected  widths  of  the  intercolumniations. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  18S3. 


255 


amount  already  evident  from  the  spacing  of  the  regulas  upon 
the  fragmentary  block.  The  metope  on  the  right  hand  can¬ 
not  have  been  broader  than  74  »  that  upon  the  left  is  seen 

from  the  space  remaining  upon  the  relief  to  have  exceeded 
83  cm.,  and  is  now  shown  to  have  been  not  less  than  o.i  m. 
more  than  this.  The  difference  between  them  of  nearly 
0.2  m.  is  at  first  sight  astounding;  yet  it  is  proportionally 
little  more  than  that  between  the  metopes  above  the  adjoin¬ 
ing  block,  measuring  68  and  81  cm.  respectively.  In  the 
latter  case,  the  unequal  dimensions  can  be  taken  from  the 
relief  itself,  and  thus  admit  of  no  possible  doubt.  Moreover, 
it  is  ascertainable,  even  from  the  few  metope  slabs  found 
upon  the  site,  that  these  members  varied  still  more  in  width 
than  is  indicated  by  this  calculation,  namely,  from  63  cm.  to 
905  mm. 

An  explanation  of  such  inequalities  in  the  division  of  the 
frieze,  particularly  above  these  two  front  epistyle  beams,  will 
suggest  itself  in  reviewing  the  method  of  construction  adopted 
by  the  builders.  It  has  been  seen,  from  marks  upon  the  sty¬ 
lobate,  that  the  laying  of  the  stones  which  form  the  steps 
was  commenced  near  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  edifice, 
and  was  continued  in  both  directions  until  they  met  upon  the 
southern  side.1  The  same  sequence  appears  to  have  been  fol¬ 
lowed  in  the  construction  of  the  entablature.  Thus,  the  lin¬ 
tels  and  frieze  members  of  the  eastern  front  were  laid  in  the 
direction  from  north  to  south.  The  work  having  evidently 
been  carried  on  in  the  most  primitive  and  irregular  manner, 
without  the  aid  of  scaled  working  drawings,  or  accurately  de¬ 
termined  tables  of  dimensions,  everything  had  to  be  done  by 

1  Page  64  of  the  present  volume.  The  considerations  which  determined  this 
course  of  construction  were  undoubtedly  connected  with  the  facts  that  the  stone 
was  brought  to  the  site  of  the  temple  from  the  northwest,  there  being  no  ap¬ 
proach  to  the  Acropolis  from  the  south,  and  that  the  native  rock  reached  the 
highest  level  at  this  part  of  the  plan. 


Fig.  55.  Schematic  View  of  the  Southeastern  Corner  of  the  Entablature.  —  Isometric. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


257 


testing  and  fitting.  The  temple  was  built  in  the  same  way  as 
were  the  polygonal  city  walls  of  that  epoch,  with  their  irregu¬ 
lar  angles  and  unequal  lengths  of  the  separate  stones.  For 
the  width  of  every  second  metope,  at  least,  independent 
measurements  had  to  be  taken  from  the  edifice  in  the  course 
of  construction.  The  want  of  agreement  between  the  joint 
surfaces  of  the  lintels  and  the  axes  of  the  columns  was  one 
result  of  this  system,  and  we  have  been  forced  to  conclude 
that  the  exact  lengths  of  the  regulas  were  cut  upon  the  face 
of  the  reliefs  after  the  members  of  the  frieze  had  been  placed 
in  position  above  them.  The  only  fixed  principle  in  the  ar¬ 
rangement  of  the  frieze  was  that  every  alternate  triglyph 
should  be  placed  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  line  of  the  col¬ 
umn  beneath  it.  Thus  it  was  brought  about  that  the  entire 
correction  rendered  necessary  by  the  elongation  of  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  frieze  to  correspond  with  the  longer  beams  of  the 
fronts,  and  especially  of  the  corners,  was  thrown  upon  the 
second  metope  laid  on  each  lintel,  — this  being  in  the  case 
under  consideration  that  upon  the  left  hand. 

This  will  be  rendered  clear  by  retracing  the  steps  naturally 
taken  by  the  masons.  As  shown  in  Figure  55,  which  gives 
in  isometrical  projection  the  dimensions  of  the  southeastern 
corner  of  the  building,  the  triglyph  A'  was  placed  as  nearly 
as  possible  in  the  axis  of  the  column  A,  regardless  of  the 
jointing  of  the  lintels  beneath  it.  To  this  triglyph  adjoined 
the  metope  A",  for  which  no  width  could  be  directly  meas¬ 
ured  upon  the  epistyle,  and  which  was  consequently  cut  of 
the  mean  dimensions,  about  0.7  m. ;  those  upon  the  right- 
hand  sides  of  the  reliefs  of  Herakles  and  Pholos,  and  the  four 
horse-legged  centaurs  being  but  about  an  inch  longer  and  an 
inch  shorter,  respectively,  than  the  average  of  the  side  meto¬ 
pes.  Then  followed  the  triglyph  B',  for  which  likewise  no 
direct  measurements  were  available,  and  which  was  made  of 


17 


258 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


the  width  of  56  cm.  determined  for  these  members.  In  con¬ 
firmation  of  this,  it  may  be  observed  that  not  one  of  the  inner 
entire  regulas  appearing  upon  the  facade  reliefs  varies  an  inch 
from  the  average.  The  second  triglyph  being  set,  the  ques¬ 
tion  of  adjustment  could  no  longer  be  ignored,  inasmuch  as 
the  width  of  the  next  metope,  B",  determined  the  position  of 
the  columnar  triglyph  C'.  Any  perceptible  deviation  of  this 
member,  the  ideal  continuation  of  the  line  of  support  in  the 
entablature,  from  the  axis  of  the  column  C,  would  have  been 
intolerable.  Hence  the  location  of  C,  thus  fixed,  was  marked 
upon  the  upper  surface  of  the  epistyle,  and  the  width  of  B" 
deduced  therefrom.  It  is  obvious  that  so  ill-considered  a 
manner  of  adjustment  inevitably  resulted  in  differences  be¬ 
tween  B"  and  A".  And  it  is  entirely  in  accord  with  this 
explanation  that  the  maximum  irregularity  should  occur  be¬ 
tween  the  metopes  above  the  front  corner  block,  C"  and  D", 
upon  which  devolved  the  equalization  of  the  displacement  of 
the  corner  triglyph  E7  from  the  axis  of  the  corner  column  E 
by  not  less  than  15  cm.,  or  half  the  thickness  of  the  entabla¬ 
ture  minus  half  the  width  of  the  corner  triglyph,  as  seen  from 
the  calculation  of  the  tainia  and  regula  lengths  of  the  relief 
of  Herakles  and  Pholos,  Figure  54. 

This  observation  concerning  the  two  metopes  situated 
above  one  and  the  same  elongated  epistyle  beam,  according 
to  which  that  last  placed  in  position  tends  to  become  the 
broader,  has  direct  bearing  upon  the  assignment  of  the  corner 
blocks  of  the  Banquet  and  the  Herakles  and  Triton  to  the 
eastern  or  western  facades.  Of  these  reliefs,  that  represent¬ 
ing  the  marine  monster  has  been  seen  to  be  the  more  im¬ 
portant,  in  respect  both  to  its  national  significance  for  the 
Greeks  of  Assos  and  to  its  connection  with  that  deity  to 
which  the  temple  was  dedicated.  It  is  also  superior  in  picto¬ 
rial  treatment,  while  in  decorative  composition  it  balances  the 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


259 


relief  of  Herakles  and  Pholos,  which  occupies  the  southern 
corner  of  the  front,  far  better  than  would  the  Banquet.  The 
six  figures  of  the  affrighted  spectators  who  fly  from  the  scene 
of  the  struggle  correspond  well  to  the  discomfited  and  re¬ 
treating  centaurs  of  the  pendant.  These  considerations  alone 
might  have  sufficed  to  justify  the  relegation  of  the  Banquet  to 
the  western  facade.  That  the  arrangement  is  correct  is  fur¬ 
ther  indicated  by  the  spacing  of  the  regulas  upon  the  epistyle 
beams  in  question.  The  construction  of  the  frieze  having, 
according  to  our  hypothesis,  been  carried  on  above  the  Her¬ 
akles  and  Triton  from  right  to  left,  and  above  the  Banquet 
from  left  to  right,  we  should  expect  to  find  the  left-hand 
metope  above  the  former  and  the  right-hand  metope  above 
the  latter  to  be  larger  than  their  fellows.  This  is  actually 
the  case,  by  the  amounts  of  4  cm.  and  5  cm.  An  exchange 
of  the  positions  of  the  reliefs  would  involve  the  assumption 
of  a  double  exception  to  the  natural  law  which  they  thus 

V 

exemplify. 

We  may  deduce  the  width  of  the  corner  intercolumniations 
of  the  fagades  from  the  data  already  acquired.  If  from  the 
smallest  possible  length  of  the  Herakles  and  Triton  panel, 
namely,  3.15  m.,  we  subtract  8  cm.  for  the  excess  of  the  half- 
regula  at  the  inner  end,  and  42  cm.  for  half  the  thickness  of 
the  entablature,  we  shall  have  a  spacing  of  about  2.65  m.  on 
centres  ;  and  if  from  the  total  length  of  the  Banquet  panel 
from  joint  to  angle  we  make  a  similar  deduction,  we  have 
about  2.54  m.  The  difference  between  these  results  is  to 
be  ascribed  to  the  irregularities  in  the  spacing  of  the  frieze 
members.  It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind,  that  the  position  of  the 
triglyphs  in  respect  to  the  axes  of  the  columns  often  varied 
even  more  than  this,  as  has  been  seen  from  the  bed  toolings 
visible  upon  the  soffits  of  the  epistyle  beams.1  Now  the  cor- 

1  Compare  page  85  of  the  present  volume. 


26o 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


ner  columns  of  the  fronts  are  known,  from  traces  upon  the 
stylobate,  to  have  been  13.07  m.  distant  from  centre  to  centre; 
if  the  shafts  between  them  had  been  placed  at  perfectly  regu¬ 
lar  intervals,  we  should  have  an  intercolumniation  of  2.614  m- 
This  is  very  nearly  the  distance  represented  by  the  average 
of  the  two  corner  beams  preserved  in  their  entire  length, 
the  one  of  which  is,  from  axis  to  axis,  but  two  inches  shorter, 
the  other  two  inches  longer ;  and  with  this  dimension  the 
length  of  the  relief  of  Herakles  and  Pholos,  determined  by 
a  method  entirely  independent,  is  in  perfect  agreement.  Had 
the  temple  followed  the  customary  proportions  of  the  Doric 
plan  in  this  particular,  a  very  considerable  difference  between 
the  intervals,  say  0.2  m.,  would  have  been  observable.  Thus 
there  can  be  no  doubt  concerning  the  fact  that  the  design 
called  for  an  equal  spacing  of  the  columns  of  the  fronts,  con¬ 
trary  to  the  general  usage  of  the  style.  The  want  of  this 
refinement  is  entirely  in  accord  with  the  general  character 
of  the  edifice.  The  inequality  of  its  dimensions,  especially 
in  the  division  of  the  frieze,  was  so  great,  that  the  aid  in  the 
adjustment  of  the  corner  metope,  commonly  derived  from  a 
diminution  of  the  corner  intercolumniations,  was  not  felt  to 
be  requisite.  This  neglect  of  one  of  the  most  characteristic 
features  of  the  style  is,  as  will  subsequently  be  shown,  by  no 
means  an  evidence  of  great  age,  but  merely  the  result  of  pro¬ 
vincial  rudeness. 

The  equal  spacing  of  the  intercolumniations  being  thus 
determined,  we  can  proceed  with  greater  certainty  to  a  con¬ 
sideration  of  the  other  epistyle  blocks  of  the  fronts.  Most 
readily  recognizable  among  these  are  the  reliefs  of  heraldic 
sphinxes.  That  assigned,  for  reasons  already  adduced,  to  the 
western  front,  is  preserved  in  its  entire  length.  (Fig.  56.) 
The  block  is  broken  into  three  fragments,  two  of  which  were 
found  during  the  American  excavations,  while  the  third  is 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


26l 


among  the  reliefs  of  the  Louvre,  so  that  it  was  not  possible  to 
fit  the  fractures  together  for  the  purpose  of  accurate  measure¬ 
ment.  The  given  total  of  2.58  m.  cannot,  however,  vary  more 
than  two  centimeters  from  the  original  length.  Fortunately 


21 


Fig.  56.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  Central  Intercolumniation 
of  the  Western  FAgADE. 

Coat  of  Arms  of  Assos. 


both  half-regulas  are  preserved,  and  these,  as  has  been  seen, 
have  sufficed  to  determine  to  which  of  the  fagades  this  relief 
appertained.  As  these  members  are  short,  about  8  cm.  is  to 
be  added  to  the  length  of  the  stone  in  order  to  obtain  the 


50 


Fig.  57.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  Central  Intercolumniation 
of  the  Eastern  FAgADE. 

Coat  of  Arms  of  Assos. 

width  of  the  corresponding  intercolumniation,  which  is  thus 
seen  to  have  been  some  5  cm.  longer  than  the  average,  as¬ 
suming,  for  the  purpose  of  this  calculation,  the  axes  of  col¬ 
umns  and  triglyphs  to- be  exactly  identical.  The  relief  from 
the  eastern  front  (Fig.  57)  is  lacking  a  considerable  portion, 


262 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


including  the  right  half-regula,  while  the  left  half-regula  has 
been  split  away  from  the  surface.  It  is  nevertheless  ascer¬ 
tainable,  both  from  the  space  remaining  upon  the  stone  and 
from  the  length  of  the  complementary  half-regula  upon  the 
adjoining  block,  that  the  member  was  about  23  cm.  in  length. 
The  distance  from  the  remaining  joint  surface  of  the  lintel 
to  the  centre  of  the  middle  regula,  and  of  the  symmetrical 
composition,  is  1.26  m.  By  adding  to  this  a  supplementary 
5  cm.  for  the  short  half-regula,  and  doubling  the  result,  we 
have  2.62  for  the  width  of  the  central  intercolumniation.  It 
is  thus  proved  that  both  these  reliefs  of  sphinxes  were  above 
inner  intercolumniations  of  the  fronts,  and  that  these  can 
have  been  no  others  than  the  central  openings  is  sufficiently 
obvious  from  the  absolute  symmetry  and  heraldic  character  of 
the  figures  upon  them.  So  little  doubt  is  possible  in  regard 
to  this  point,  that  the  sphinxes  were  assigned  to  this  position 
even  by  Texier’s  restoration  of  the  facade  of  the  temple,  upon 
which  every  other  relief  is  wrongly  placed.1 

It  is  worthy  of  note,  that  the  three  half-regulas  which  may 
be  measured  upon  the  two  sphinx  reliefs  are  all  too  short,  the 
deficiency  amounting  in  one  case  to  7  cm.  The  blocks  in 
question  are  thus  seen  to  have  intentionally  been  made  smaller 
than  those  adjoining  them,  and  shorter  than  the  intercolumni¬ 
ations  over  which  they  were  placed.  An  explanation  of  this 
lies  near  at  hand.  The  sculptured  subject,  consisting  only  of 
two  figures,  was  without  doubt  felt  to  be  too  small,  or  at  all 
events  proportionally  too  high,  to  fill  a  panel  of  the  normal 
length  and  proportions.  While  this  difficulty  was  met,  in  so 
far  as  was  possible  by  such  adjustment,  a  corresponding  ad¬ 
vantage  was  gained  by  transferring  the  deducted  length  to 

1  Texier,  Description,  vol.  ii.  pi.  U2.  The  author  especially  refers  to  the 
relief  of  the  Banquet,  one  of  the  two  largest  blocks  removed  to  Paris,  as  having 
been  upon  the  side  of  the  building. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1SS3. 


263 


the  neighboring  epistyle  blocks,  containing  a  greater  number 
of  figures.  Of  the  two  sphinx  reliefs,  that  upon  the  eastern 
front  was  the  more  shortened  in  this  manner,  the  half-panel 
measuring  1.26  m. ;  and  it  has  been  pointed  out,  in  consider¬ 
ing  the  style  of  these  sculptures,  of  what  decided  advantage 
to  the  design  even  this  slight  diminution  proved  to  be. 

As  a  still  further,  if  slight,  indication  of  the  correctness 
of  the  assignment  of  the  Herakles  and  Triton  to  the  eastern 
fagade,  it  may  be  observed  that  the  longer  corner  relief  thus 


Fig.  58.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  second  Intercolumniation  from 

THE  SOUTH  OF  THE  EASTERN  FaQADE 
Series  relating  to  the  Centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe. 

becomes  complementary  to  the  shorter  central  beam,  and  vice 
versa ,  excess  and  deficiency  corresponding  very  closely. 

Fortunately  for  our  understanding  of  the  arrangement  of 
the  reliefs  upon  the  building,  one  of  the  sculptured  blocks 
discovered  during  the  American  excavations  fills  the  gap  be¬ 
tween  the  Herakles  and  Pholos  and  the  eastern  sphinxes,  hav¬ 
ing  formed  the  lintel  of  the  second  intercolumniation  of  the 
main  front  from  the  southeastern  corner.  This  is  the  relief  of 
the  four  horse-legged  centaurs  fleeing  from  the  arrows  of  the 
hero  (Fig.  58).  The  stone,  preserved  in  its  entire  length,  and 
with  all  its  mouldings  intact,  is  2.6  m.  in  length.  That  it 
belonged  to  an  inner  intercolumniation  was.  thus  evident  at 
once.  Despite  the  striking  difference  presented  by  the  horse- 


264 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


legged  and  human-legged  monsters  of  the  two  blocks,  it  was 
further  assumed  that  it  adjoined  the  Herakles  and  Pholos 
group,  next  to  which  it  was  found,  at  the  southeastern  corner 
of  the  building,  just  beneath  its  original  position.  And  this 
assumption  has  been  confirmed  through  a  comparison  of  the 
half-regulas  carved  upon  its  ends  with  the  corresponding 
members  upon  the  blocks  on  either  hand.  That  on  the  right, 
measuring  33  cm.,  is  exceptionally  long,  in  agreement  with 
the  small  space  remaining  for  the  other  half  upon  the  inten¬ 
tionally  shortened  sphinx  block  (Fig.  57)  ;  that  on  the  left, 
measuring  24  cm.,  in  like  manner  corresponds  to  the  space 
upon  the  right-hand  end  of  the  Herakles  and  Pholos  relief. 
Still  another  proof  of  contiguity  is  supplied  by  the  total 
length  of  the  half  front  entablature  represented  by  these 
three  reliefs,  an  accurate  test,  inasmuch  as  no  great  vari¬ 
ation  is  here  conceivable.  The  total  length  of  the  corner 
panel,  3 -03 5  m.  from  joint  to  angle,  as  before  determined, 
added  to  the  2.6  m.  of  this  relief  of  the  four  horse-legged 
centaurs,  and  to  the  1.26  m.  represented  by  the  half-panel 
of  the  eastern  sphinxes,  gives  just  that  total  of  6.945  m.  re¬ 
required  for  the  half-entablature  length,  definitely  determined 
by  measurements  of  the  plan. 

Continuing  the  examination  of  those  reliefs  which  are  to 
be  assigned  to  the  southeastern  corner  of  the  building,  we 
have  next  to  deal  with  two  epistyle  beams  in  the  Louvre  rep¬ 
resenting  centaurs  (Figs.  59  and  60).  Their  regular  gallop 
in  the  same  direction,  their  conventional  positions,  so  similar 
to  those  of  their  brethren  upon  the  reliefs  of  the  front,  natu¬ 
rally  lead  to  the  supposition  that  they  were  connected  with 
the  exploit  of  Herakles  against  these  monsters,  of  which  the 
chief  scene  is  depicted  upon  the  front  corner ;  and  that,  as 
the  line  of  retreating  centaurs  is  known  to  have  been  termi¬ 
nated  by  the  heraldic  sphinxes  occupying  the  middle  of  the 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


265 


fagade,  these  wine-attracted  disturbers  of  the  hospitality  of 
Pholos  are  hastening  to  the  assault,  around  the  corner,  upon 
the  side  entablature.  It  may  furthermore  be  observed,  that 
the  sculptor  has  shown  all  but  one  of  the  centaurs  retreating 
discomfited  before  the  arrows  of  the  hero  to  have  lost  their 
weapons,  while  all  but  one  of  those  advancing  have  their 
weapons  still  in  their  hands.  Convincing  indications  of  the 
correctness  of  this  view  of  the  incident,  and  of  the  arrange¬ 
ment  of  the  blocks  in  accordance  therewith,  may  be  derived 


from  the  dimensions  of  the  two  Louvre  reliefs  under  consid¬ 
eration.  The  first  (Fig.  59)  is  recognizable  as  having  belonged 
to  a  side  corner  by  the  great  length  of  its  central  regula,  and 
by  the  distance  of  this  member  from  the  remaining  joint  sur¬ 
face.  While  the  inner  side  lintels  averaged,  as  has  been 
shown,  but  2.44  m.  in  length  from  axis  to  axis,  the  corners 
were  not  less  than  2.9  m.  long  from  axis  to  angle.  Discrimi¬ 
nation  between  them  is  hence  neither  difficult  nor  uncertain. 
From  the  ideal  axis,  15  cm.  beyond  the  left  joint  surface  of 
our  block,  to  the  centre  of  the  middle  regula,  is  1.32  m.;  twice 
this,  plus  the  length  of  the  half  corner  regula  which  is  to  be 
included  in  the  calculation,  gives  precisely  the  required  di¬ 
mensions.  It  will  be  noticed  in  connection  with  this  ideal 
axis,  that  the  stone  presents  a  further  peculiarity  indicative 


266 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


of  its  position  above  one  of  the  corner  intercolumniations  : 
the  half-regula  at  the  left  is  the  shortest  member  of  the  kind 
cut  upon  any  of  the  epistyle  blocks  known,  being  only  n  cm. 
in  length.  It  is  evident  that  the  beam  was  thus  shortened 
through  the  same  desire  to  spare  the  labor  of  quarrymen 
and  masons  which  determined  the  cutting  of  the  laps  upon 
these  corner  blocks  of  the  sides,  rather  than  upon  those  of 
the  fronts.  It  was  much  easier  to  provide  and  handle  two 
blocks  of  2.6  and  2.75,  than  two  of  2.45  and  2.9  m.,  respect¬ 
ively.  The  length  of  the  whole  regula  is  over  5 7  cm.,  con¬ 
siderably  more  than  the  ordinary  width  of  the  side  triglyphs,, 
which  appear  to  have  averaged  about  52  cm.  For  a  corner 
block  this  is  entirely  normal,  such  an  extension  being  the 
most  natural  method  of  effecting  an  adjustment  between  the 
different  lengths  of  the  two  classes  of  lintels.  For  the  same 
reason,  the  metope  was  allowed  a  width  of  76  cm.,  while  the 
average  width  of  the  metopes  above  the  inner  intercolumnia¬ 
tions  of  the  sides  cannot  have  exceeded  71  cm.  Still  another 
indication,  and  one  of  an  entirely  different  nature,  may  be 
adduced  to  prove  the  position  of  the  block.  If  the  panel  ex¬ 
tended  to  the  corner  of  the  entablature,  with  an  entire  regula 
at  the  right-hand  end,  as  indicated  by  the  dotted  lines  in 
Figure  59,  just  sufficient  space  would  have  been  provided  to 
contain  the  figures  of  two  centaurs  in  advance  of  the  fore¬ 
most  now  remaining.  This  would  by  no  means  have  been  the 
case  had  the  lintel  been  above  an  inner  intercolumniation,  and 
terminated  by  a  joint  surface  in  or  near  the  axis  of  the  next 
regula  upon  the  right.  It  is  true  that  the  body  of  the  last 
centaur  upon  the  left  is  divided  by  the  joint ;  but  this  single 
instance  of  the  kind  in  any  of  the  reliefs  was  due,  as  will  pres¬ 
ently  be  explained,  to  this  very  elongation  of  the  corner  block 
by  a  lap,  owing  to  which  nine  centaurs  could  be  represented 
upon  two  adjoining  panels,  instead  of  four  upon  each. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883.  267 

The  second  of  the  Paris  centaur  reliefs  (Fig.  60)  is  of  the 
small  dimensions  which  prove  it  to  have  been  above  one  of 
the  inner  intercolumniations  of  the  sides.  The  length  of  the 
half-panel  remaining  intact  is  only  1.2  m.  from  the  right-hand 
axis,  2  cm.  beyond  the  point  to  the  centre  of  the  middle  reg- 
ula.  The  latter  moulding  is  considerably  shorter  than  the 
average  of  its  class,  measuring  but  48  cm.  in  length.  This 
block  obviously  did  not  adjoin  the  corner  lintel;  the  missing 
hind  quarters  of  the  last  centaur  upon  that  relief  are  not 


48  70  24 


Fig.  60.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  second  Intercolumniation 

FROM  THE  EAST  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  SIDE. 

Series  relating  to  the  Centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe. 


sculptured  upon  it,  while  the  half-regulas  are  by  no  means 
complementary.  It  is  to  be  assigned,  without  doubt,  to  the 
third  intercolumniation  of  the  southern  side,  from  the  east. 
If  we  assume  the  joint  surface  upon  the  left-hand  side,  now 
lost,  to  have  been  displaced  a  few  centimeters  beyond  the 
ideal  axis,  as  would  naturally  have  been  the  case  in  the  first 
sculptured  lintel,  ample  space  would  have  been  provided  for 
the  body  of  a  fourth  centaur.  Even  had  joint  and  axis  co¬ 
incided,  this  figure  might  have  found  room.  It  appears 
probable  that  this  fourth  centaur  terminated  the  long  line 
of  advancing  assailants,  and  that  the  adjoining  epistyle  block 
upon  the  left  was  unsculptured  ;  yet  this  point  cannot  be 
definitely  determined. 

The  arrangement  of  the  reliefs  upon  the  six  epistyle  beams 


Fig.  6i.  Reconstruction  of  the  Eastern  Corner  of  the  Southern  Side,  showing 
three  Epistyle  Blocks  relating  to  the  Centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe. 


Fig.  62.  Reconstruction  of  the  Southern  Half  of  the  Eastern  Facade,  showing  two  Epistyle  Blocks  relating 
to  the  Centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe,  and  the  Central  Panel  with  tlie  Coat  of  Arms  of  Assos. 


2  JO 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


nearest  to  the  southeastern  corner,  thus  ascertained,  is  shown 
in  Figures  61  and  62 }  Observe  the  difference  between  the 
easy  canter  of  the  centaurs  advancing  in  regular  file  to  the 
attack,  and  the  headlong  flight  of  those  who  retreat  in  terror 
before  the  victorious  arms  of  the  hero ;  the  node  of  the  ac¬ 
tion,  so  to  speak,  being  the  comparative  repose  of  the  upright 
figures  of  P'holos  and  his  guest,  emphasizing  the  vertical  lines 
at  the  corner  of  the  entablature  in  excellent  architectural 
effect. 

One  other  epistyle  relief  can  be  proved  to  have  appertained 
to  a  front  of  the  building;  namely,  that  of  the  lion  and  boar, 
discovered  during  the  first  year  of  the  American  excavations. 
(Fig.  64.)  The  fragment,  comprising  about  three  quarters  of 
the  entire  panel,  measures  1.34  m.  from  the  remaining  joint 
surface  to  the  middle  of  the  central  regula.  Deducting  4  cm. 

S 

1  The  restored  elevation  of  the  gable  and  gable  ornaments,  given  in 
Figure  62,  introduces  architectural  features  which  require  some  words  of  fur¬ 
ther  explanation. 

The  three  stones  of  the  tympanon  wall  veil,  referred  to  in  the  description 
of  the  edifice,  pages  106-109  of  the  present  volume,  are  indicated  by  dots.  It 
is  not  absolutely  certain  that  the  blocks  recovered  appertained  to  the  eastern, 
and  not  the  western  gable ;  yet  the  position  in  which  they  were  found  favors 
the  former  attribution,  while  the  fact  that  the  three  stones  belonged  together 
and  originally  adjoined  is  evident  from  the  exact  agreement  in  height  of  their 
corresponding  sides. 

The  relief  decoration  of  the  terra-cotta  gutter  is  based  upon  the  indications 
afforded  by  the  fragment  discovered  during  the  second  year  of  the  excavations. 
(Compare  page  133,  Fig.  31.)  The  height  of  this  member  is  the  chief  feature 
which  remains  uncertain. 

In  respect  to  the  griffin  drawn  as  the  corner  acroterion,  it  is  obvious  that  a 
single  paw  (page  137,  Fig.  34)  is  by  no  means  sufficient  to  warrant  a  trustworthy 
restoration.  The  figure  is  introduced  merely  for  the  purpose  of  indicating  the 
ascertained  fact  that  a  monster  of  this  nature,  whether  griffin  or  sphinx,  occu¬ 
pied  this  position.  Its  height,  which  may  appear  excessive,  is  but  one  meter, 
and  has  been  made  proportionate  to  the  dimensions  of  the  acroterion  surmount¬ 
ing  the  apex  of  the  gable. 

This  central  acroterion,  dScoupe  from  a  slab  eight  centimeters  in  thickness, 
may  be  reconstructed  with  reasonable  certainty  as  to  its  main  features  from  the 
existing  fragment  of  its  left-hand  lower  convolution.  (Page  136,  Fig.  33.)  The 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


271 


for  the  excess  of  the  half-regula,  and  doubling  the  remainder, 
the  lintel  is  found  to  have  corresponded  exactly  to  an  inter- 
columniation  of  2.6  m.,  or  one  of  the  inner  spaces  of  the 

32  74  67 


i 

I 


Fig.  64.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  second  Intercolumniation 

FROM  THE  NORTH  OF  THE  WESTERN  FAgADE, 

Series  relating  to  the  Erymanthian  Boar. 

fronts.  It  is  plain  that  it  cannot  have  occupied  a  corner, 
for  the  direction  of  the  composition  shows  that  a  longer  half¬ 
fragment  in  question,  indicated  by  shading,  is  shown,  together  with  the  outline 
of  the  suggested  reconstruction,  upon  a  larger  scale  in  Figure  63.  As  the  volute 
sends  off  a  main  branch  upon  the  side  opposite  to  the  incised  parallel  lines 
which  evidently  designate  a  horizontal  juncture, 
it  is  plain  that  the  ornament  must  have  consisted 
of  at  least  two  pairs  of  scrolls.  The  fragment 
remaining  is  not  less  than  55  cm.  broad,  showing 
the  width  of  the  scrolls  to  which  it  belonged  to 
have  been  very  nearly  one  meter.  The  given 
dimensions  of  the  acroterion  are  thus  by  no  means 
too  large.  At  first  sight,  so  broad  and  bulky 
a  mass  will  appear  disproportionate  to  the  gable. 

But  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  temple  of 
Assos  was  at  once  archaic  and  of  small  size, 
both  of  which  characteristics  commonly  led,  as 
will  be  recognized  by  students  of  Greek  archi¬ 
tecture,  to  a  comparatively  large  acroterion  or¬ 
nament.  In  the  restoration  of  gutter  anthemion 
and  central  acroterion,  the  indications  of  deco¬ 
rative  style  afforded  by  the  known  antefix  have 
been  followed  as  closely  as  possible.  Fig.  63.  Restoration  of  the 

It  is  instructive  to  contrast  the  heavy  aero-  Central  Acroterion,  the 

terion  of  poros  stone  from  the  temple  of  Assos  remaining  Fragment  dot- 

with  the  graceful  and  refined  ornament  of  marble  ted  and  shaded. 


272 


A R C-HAL OLOGICA L  INSTITUTE. 


regula  would  in  that  case  have  been  cut  upon  the  left-hand 
end,  remaining  intact,  in  order  to  make  up  the  complement 
to  the  lap.  On  the  other  hand,  the  slight  excess  of  the 
actual  member  was  evidently  determined  by  the  desire  of 
the  masons  to  diminish  the  length  of  the  corner  block,  which 
adjoined  it  upon  this  side.  The  corresponding  lintel  of  the 
eastern  front  being  already  known,  we  may  safely  conclude 
that  the  relief  of  the  lion  and  the  boar,  one  of  the  finest  in 
point  of  execution,  was  situated  above  the  intercolumniation 
of  the  western  fagade  second  from  the  north,  having  on  its 
right  the  heraldic  sphinxes,  and  on  its  left  the  missing  corner 
block  which  would  have  figured  as  the  fourth  in  our  list. 
This  conclusion  is  borne  out  by  the  position  in  which  the 
relief  was  discovered,  —  close  to  the  western  end  of  the, 
temple,  and  directly  opposite  the  intercolumniation  to  which 
it  has  been  assigned.1  The  mass  of  rude  mediaeval  masonry 
in  which  the  stone  was  embodied  was  found  to  consist  almost 
wholly  of  cornice  blocks  from  the  western  entablature  and 
gable.  This  circumstance  would  of  itself  almost  suffice  to 
determine  the  original  position  of  the  relief. 

Among  the  smaller  fragments  in  the  Louvre  is  a  portion  of 
that  epistyle  which  was  situated  above  the  westernmost  inter¬ 
columniation  of  the  northern  side  of  the  building,  and  over¬ 
lapped  the  missing  corner  of  the  western  fagade.  This  is  the 
relief  of  the  lion  springing  upon  the  back  of  a  hind.  (Fig.  65.) 
Upon  it  is  seen,  extending  from  the  end  surface  at  the  right 
across  three  quarters  of  the  short  length  remaining,  an  entire 

which  occupied  the  corresponding  position  upon  the  temple  of  Aigina.  As  the 
present  writer  has  become  aware  through  a  study  of  the  fragments  of  the  latter 
member,  now  preserved  in  the  Glyptothek  of  Munich,  none  of  the  published  res¬ 
torations  of  the  Aiginetan  acroterion  are  altogether  correct ;  still  they  suffice, 
in  such  comparison,  to  illustrate  the  characteristic  differences  between  Euro¬ 
pean  and  Asiatic,  between  advancing  and  provincial,  design  of  one  and  the 
same  age. 

1  Preliminary  Report ,  plate  2.  N. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


273 


regula,  fully  equal  to  the  known  width  of  one  of  the  corner 
triglyphs  to  which  it  must  have  corresponded.  The  relief 
which  formed  the  easternmost  corner  of  the  southern  side 
being  known,  it  is  evident  that  this  lintel  can  only  have  been 
situated  diagonally  opposite  to  it.  This  block  with  the  cor¬ 
ner  lap  is  the  only  one  of  its  kind  which  has  come  to  light. 
When  found  by  the  French  explorers  it  must  have  clearly 
displayed  the  method  followed  by  the  ancient  builders  in  cut¬ 
ting  the  lap  with  reference  to  the  narrow  soffit  and  peculiar 


Fig.  65.  Epistyle  Block  above  the  westernmost  Intercolumniation 

of  the  Northern  Side. 

Series  relating  to  the  Erymanthian  Boar. 

boss  of  the  epistyle  beams.  Hence  it  is  a  matter  of  great 
regret  that,  by  the  sawing  of  the  lintel  to  a  thin  slab,  these 
indications  have  been  altogether  obliterated,  while  no  record 
was  kept  of  the  original  formation  of  a  member  so  important 
in  architectural  respects. 

As  the  three  corner  blocks  of  the  fronts  preserved  to  us 
represent  three  of  the  deeds  of  Herakles,  it  is  natural  to  as¬ 
sume  that  the  subject  of  the  fourth  was  of  a  similar  nature. 
The  reliefs  adjoining  the  missing  scene,  and  doubtless  stand¬ 
ing  in  connection  with  it,  display  the  struggle  of  a  number  of 
wild  beasts,  —  the  lion  and  boar,  and  the  lion  and  hind, — 
“  ces  animaux  feroces  dechirant  les  paisibles  hotes  des  forets, 
dont  la  v&ocite  ne  peut  les  d^rober  k  leur  insatiable  soif  de 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


2  7  4 


sang,”  as  Clarac  poetically  describes  them.1  Hence,  the  as¬ 
sumption  is  ready  at  hand,  that  the  missing  scene  was  the 
combat  of  Herakles  with  the  Nemean  lion,  or  with  the  Ery- 
manthian  boar.  It  has  been  observed  that  two  of  the  chief 
subjects  were  connected  with  one  and  the  same  expedition, 
and  as  the  adventure  of  the  hero  with  the  centaurs  of  Mount 
Pholoe  was  an  episode  of  the  pursuit  of  the  Erymanthian 
boar,  the  latter  suggestion  enjoys  the  greater  probability. 

Three  of  the  remaining  reliefs  evidently  belong  to  the  same 
series  of  representations,  and  may  be  supposed  to  have  orna- 


Fig.  66.  Epistyle  Block  from  the  Western  Group  of 
the  Northern  Side. 

Series  relating  to  the  Erymanthian  Boar. 


mented  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  edifice.  These  are 
the  two  lions  and  stag  (Fig.  66),  the  lion  and  bull  (Fig.  68), 
and  the  lion  with  the  legs  of  a  deer  thrown  over  his  back 
(Fig.  69).  That  the  first  of  these  was  upon  the  side  of  the 
building  is  rendered  wellnigh  certain  by  the  exceptionally 
small  size  of  the  central  regula,  which  measures  scarcely 
48  cm.  in  length.  In  calculating  the  width  of  the  inter- 
columniation  to  which  it  appertained,  we  find  the  distance 
from  the  middle  of  the  central  regula  to  the  axis  of  the  col¬ 
umn  upon  the  left  hand,  about  7  cm.  beyond  the  actual  joint 
surface,  to  be  equal  to  1.34  m.  Thus,  if  the  block  be  assumed 
to  have  been  above  an  inner  side  intercolumniation  of  2.44  m. 


1  Clarac,  Musee,  vol.  ii.,  seconde  partie. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


27  5 


on  centres,  as  is  indicated  by  the  dotted  lines  of  Figure  66,  it 
is  evident  that  the  central  regula  has  been  displaced  at  least 
12  cm.  to  the  right.  Although  irregularities  even  greater 
than  this  have  been  observed  in  other  lintels,  this  feature, 
taken  together  with  others  capable  of  a  like  interpretation, 
leads  us  to  the  conviction  that  this  relief  of  the  two  lions  and 
stag  is  the  left-hand  half  of  that  side  corner  panel  of  which 
the  other  end  is  represented  by  the  fragment  of  the  lion  and 
deer  shown  in  Figure  65.  The  half-regula  at  the  left  is  less 
than  20  cm.  long,  being  the  smallest  member  of  the  kind 


Fig.  67.  Epistyle  Block  from  the  westernmost  Intercolumnia- 

TION  OF  THE  NORTHERN  SIDE. 

Combination  of  Fragments  shown  in  Figures  65  and  66.  Series  relating 
to  the  Erymanthian  Boar. 

known,  with  the  exception  of  that  occupying  the  correspond¬ 
ing  position  upon  the  other  side  corner  block  of  the  advan¬ 
cing  centaurs,  Figure  59.  Reference  has  already  been  made 
to  the  practical  considerations  which  in  the  case  of  lintels 
placed  above  side  corners  led  to  such  curtailment  of  the  inner 
half-regulas.  Shorter  stones  could  thus  be  utilized  than  would 
be  possible  had  the  joint  surfaces  conformed  to  the  axes  of  the 
columns.  The  small  size  of  the  detail  in  question  may  hence 
serve  as  an  argument  in  support  of  the  combination  of  the 
two  fragments  shown  in  Figure  67.  Computing  the  length  of 
the  panel  thus  constituted,  and  assuming  the  two  metopes 
above  it  to  have  been  of  equal  size,  we  find  the  stone,  from 
joint  surface  to  corner  of  lap,  to  have  been  of  a  dimension 


276 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


closely  agreeing  with  the  2.9  m.  required  for  the  lintel  occu¬ 
pying  this  position.  In  combining  the  fragments  in  the 
manner  indicated,  we  are  struck  with  the  agreement  in  de¬ 
sign  of  the  groups  thus  brought  together.  Just  sufficient 
space  remains  upon  the  missing  portion  to  contain  the  trunk 
and  hind  quarters  of  the  lion  whose  head  and  shoulders  are 
seen  upon  Figure  65.  The  beasts  of  prey  spring  upon  their 
booty  in  the  same  way,  and  with  bodies  inclined  in  the  same 
direction,  forming  in  their  conventional  regularity  a  pendant 


89s  29 


Fig.  68.  Epistyle  Block  from  the  Western  Group 
of  the  Northern  Side. 

*  'v 

Series  relating  to  the  Erymanthian  Boar. 


to  the  monotonous  file  of  the  advancing  centaurs  upon  the 
other  end  of  the  building. 

The  second  relief  belonging  to  this  series  represents  a  lion 
dragging  a  bull  to  the  ground.  (Fig.  68.)  That  this  is  to 
be  assigned  to  one  of  the  inner  intercolumniations  of  the 
sides  is  susceptible  of  little  doubt,  as  the  distance  between 
the  two  remaining  regulas  exactly  corresponds  to  the  dimen¬ 
sions  requisite  for  such  a  lintel  had  the  two  metopes  been 
equal  in  size,  and  the  triglyphs  of  the  normal  side  width. 
The  half-regula  at  the  right  is  slightly  excessive,  and  it  is 
quite  possible  that  the  block  may  have  adjoined  the  side  cor¬ 
ner  panel,  shown  in  Figure  67.  In  this  case  the  third  tri¬ 
glyph  from  the  northeastern  corner,  though  slightly  broader 
than  the  second,  and  than  that  above  one  of  the  epistyles  of 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883, 


277 


the  southern  entablature,  would  still  have  been  two  or  three 
centimeters  narrower  than  the  average. 

In  regard  to  the  third  relief,  that  of  the  hind  quarters  of  a 
lion  with  the  legs  of  a  deer  thrown  over  his  back  (Fig.  69), 
we  have  a  further  indication  of  its  connection  with  the  series 
of  the  northwestern  corner  in  the  position  in  which  it  was 
found,  immediately  adjoining  the  relief  of  the  lion  and  boar,1 
The  only  measurement  which  can  be  taken  from  the  small 
fragment  is  that  of  the  half-regula,  33  cm.  in  length.  The 
excess  is  here  so  great  that  we  are  led 
to  consider  the  possibility  of  this  block 
being  the  end  of  the  corner  lintel  of  the 
western  facade,  complementary  to  the 
lap.  Its  evident  superiority  in  design 
and  execution  might  be  put  forward  in 
support  of  this  identification.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  we  cannot  fail  to  observe 
the  entire  similarity  of  the  animals  in 
scale  and  action  with  those  sculptured 
upon  the  two  blocks  of  the  northern 
side,  and  the  want  of  any  indication  of  a  struggle  of  either 
boar  or  lion  with  Herakles.  The  stone  represents  too  small 
a  portion  of  the  panel  to  allow  of  any  decision  in  this  matter ; 
and  it  might,  upon  grounds  quite  as  convincing,  be  deemed 
to  have  formed  the  left  half  of  the  side  block  of  the  lion  and 
bull  (Fig.  68). 

There  remain  but  two  sculptured  epistyle  blocks,  which 
cannot  be  brought  into  connection  with  either  of  the  four 
chief  scenes  depicted  upon  the  corners  of  the  temple.  These 
are  the  reliefs  of  the  butting  bulls,  Figures  70  and  71.  Bear¬ 
ing  in  mind  the  perfectly  regular  manner  in  which  the  se¬ 
quence  of  subject  was  carried  out  in  all  the  reliefs  of  the 


Fig.  69.  Fragment  of 
an  Epistyle  Block  of 
the  Series  relating 

TO  THE  ERYMANTHIAN 

Boar. 


1  Preliminary  Report,  plate  2,  N. 


278 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE . 


entablature  hitherto  considered,  —  a  sequence  in  favor  of 
which  the  fundamental  law  of  the  Doric  style  forbidding  the 
decoration  of  the  epistyle  had  been  sacrificed,  —  it  appeared 
at  first  sight  impossible  to  assign  a  position  to  these  blocks. 
On  the  one  hand,  it  was  difficult  to  conceive  their  having 
adjoined  either  of  the  series  depicting  the  deeds  of  Herakles  ; 
on  the  other,  the  number  of  lateral  epistyle  beams  being 
even,  there  was  no  possibility  of  the  bulls  having  occupied 
the  middle  of  the  sides,  in  that  absolute  symmetry  and  dis¬ 
connection  from  the  other  scenes  which  would  have  been 


31  03  62  63  87 


2  51 


Fig.  70.  Epistyle  Block  from  the  Entablature  of  the  Cella, 

ABOVE  THE  PRONAOS. 

Subject  related  to  the  Cult  of  Assian  Athena. 

demanded  by  the  subject  and  composition  of  these  reliefs. 
Such  difficulties  are,  however,  entirely  avoided  by  their  re¬ 
moval  from  the  peripteros.  That  these  two  epistyle  blocks 
were,  in  fact,  situated  within  the  colonnade,  upon  the  wall 
of  the  cella,  can  be  proved  from  indications  of  so  different 
nature  that  the  argument  is  free  from  those  dangers  of  a 
vicious  circle  against  which  we  must  constantly  be  on  our 
guard  in  reconstructions  of  this  kind. 

One  of  the  reliefs,  shown  in  Figure  70,  is  remarkable  as 
being  the  only  lintel,  preserved  in  its  entire  length,  upon 
which  the  extent  of  all  the  mouldings  can  be  measured.  Its 
half-regulas,  respectively  31  and  37  cm.  long,  are  both  ex¬ 
cessive.  Deducting  from  the  actual  length  of  the  stone  the 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


279 


16  cm.  thus  determined,  we  find  the  axes  of  the  columnar 
triglyphs  to  have  been  only  2.35  m.  apart,  or  9  cm.  less  than 
the  average  of  the  side  intercolumniations.  In  like  manner, 
the  fragmentary  relief  of  the  same  subject  (Fig.  71)  measures 
but  1. 14  m.  from  the  remaining  joint  surface  to  the  middle  of 
the  central  regula.  The  span  thus  indicated  is  not  less  than 
16  cm.  narrower  than  that  of  the  side  lintels ;  and  although 
this  dimension  was  without  doubt  slightly  increased  through 
a  want  of  correspondence  between  joint  surface  and  ideal 


— 1 


Fig.  71.  Epistyle  Block  forming  the  Pendant  to  that 
shown  in  Figure  70. 

Same  subject  and  corresponding  location. 


axis,  we  have  good  grounds  for  believing  that  the  amount  of 
such  correction  cannot  have  exceeded  six  or  eight  centimeters 
in  the  total  length.  This  lintel  is  unfortunately  deprived  of 
both  half-regulas,  so  that  no  direct  information  is  obtainable 
upon  this  point  from  the  stone  itself.  But  if  the  metopes 
above  it  be  assumed  to  have  equalled  those  above  its  pendant, 
the  joint  surface  is  found  to  have  been  removed  from  the  axis 
of  the  support  by  not  more  than  three  or  four  centimeters. 
An  indication  leading  to  the  same  conclusion  is  furnished  by 
the  subjects  represented  upon  these  panels.  The  animals  are 
so  entirely  similar  in  posture  and  proportions  that  the  out¬ 
lines  actually  appear  to  have  been  transferred  to  the  stones 
from  one  and  the  same  drawing.  This  may  be  tested  by 
laying  a  strip  of  tracing-paper  bearing  the  outlines  of  Figure 


28o 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


yo  over  Figure  y i,  when  the  forms  will  be  seen  to  agree 
in  a  manner  otherwise  inexplicable.  The  only  variations 
are  those  rendered  necessary  by  the  different  height  of  the 
tainias,  this  member  measuring  in  one  case  but  eight  and  a 
half,  in  the  other  fully  ten  centimeters.  The  lengths,  with 
which  alone  we  are  at  present  concerned,  are  absolutely  iden¬ 
tical.  Hence,  it  is  impossible  to  assume  that  the  figures  upon 
the  fragmentary  block  occupied  a  more  elongated  panel. 

It  is  thus  evident  that  we  have  to  deal  with  lintels  placed 
above  considerably  narrower  intercolumniations  than  those 
of  the  sides,  which,  with  the  exception  of  the  corners,1  are 
known,  from  the  traces  of  the  columns  upon  the  stylobate,  to 
have  in  no  case  varied  more  than  a  centimeter  or  two  from 
the  average  of  2.44  m.  In  short,  the  reliefs  of  the  butting 
bulls  formed  no  part  whatever  of  the  entablature  of  the 
peripteros.  They  can  only  be  assigned  to  the  two  side  inter¬ 
columniations  of  the  pronaos,  between  the  antae  and  the  col¬ 
umns  in  antis,  inasmuch  as  the  lintels  above  these  openings 
are  the  only  ones  of  a  smaller  span  than  those  hitherto 
considered. 

The  exact  widths  of  these  intercolumniations  are  not  ascer¬ 
tainable  from  the  plan,  the  traces  upon  the  stylobate  being 
too  indistinct  to  permit  of  an  accurate  measurement.  The 
columns  in  antis  stood  upon  blocks  larger,  and  without  doubt 
deeper,  than  those  of  the  surrounding  pavement,  having  ex¬ 
posed  surfaces  of  1.2  m.  square  and  1.1  by  1.4  m.  (Compare 

1  The  deviations  of  the  corner  intercolumniations  of  the  sides  from  the  nor¬ 
mal  width,  evident  from  traces  upon  the  stylobate  referred  to  upon  page  76  of 
the  present  volume,  are  themselves  not  equal  to  the  difference  in  length  between 
the  epistyle  blocks  sculptured  with  the  two  bulls  and  the  lintels  placed  above 
the  inner  intercolumniations  of  the  sides.  The  increased  span  indicated  by 
these  traces  is  readily  explicable  by  the  consideration  that  the  corner  passages 
of  the  sides  were  intentionally  approximated  to  those  of  the  fronts ;  while  it  is, 
on  the  other  hand,  impossible  to  assume  that  a  restriction  of  such  amount  can 
have  existed  in  the  case  of  any  intercolumniation  of  the  peripteros. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1SS3. 


281 


the  plan,  Fig.  4.)  Upon  these  blocks  are  to  be  seen  the  dis¬ 
colored  patches  in  slight  relief  resulting  from  the  presence 
upon  them  for  wellnigh  two  thousand  years  of  the  lowest  drums 
of  the  shafts.  The  outlines  of  the  arrises,  here  eighteen  in 
number,  could  be  followed  in  but  one  case,  and  even  there 
with  no  certainty  in  respect  to  the  demarcation.  All  that 
could  be  definitely  determined  was  that  the  circular  patches 
occupied  about  the  middle  of  the  slabs,  in  their  axes  from 
east  to  west.  The  central  opening  may  in  this  wise  be  seen 
to  have  been  at  least  1.9  and  possibly  2  m.  in  the  clear,  and 
the  columns  in  antis  2.8  or  2.9  m.  on  centres.  This  shows 
the  side  intercolumniations  to  have  been  spanned,  from  centre 
of  anta  wall  to  axis  of  column,  by  lintels  but  2.2  or  2.25  m.  in 
length,  and  to  have  been  even  narrower  than  we  should  have 
been  led  to  assume  from  the  dimensions  of  the  blocks  now 

under  consideration.  It  is,  however,  probable  that  the  ad- 

\ 

justment  of  the  members  of  the  frieze  led  to  some  displace¬ 
ment  of  the  columnar  triglyphs  from  the  axes  of  the  supports 
beneath  them.  Although  the  central  intercolumniation  was 
thirty,  or  even  forty,  centimeters  wider  than  the  intercolumni¬ 
ations  of  the  fronts,  the  average  of  the  three  pronaos  lintels 
was  almost  exactly  equal  to  that  of  the  side  lintels  of  the 
peripteros.  Thus  the  average  width  of  the  metopes  and  tri¬ 
glyphs,  determined  by  the  dimensions  of  the  outer  entabla¬ 
ture,  would  naturally  have  been  retained,  and  the  axes  of 
these  members  have  tended  to  a  displacement  in  the  sense 
indicated.  This  is  precisely  the  conclusion  which  might  have 
been  drawn  from  the  exceptionally  short  distance  between 
the  columnar  axes  and  the  excessive  lengths  of  the  half- 
regulas  upon  these  blocks  of  the  butting  bulls.  Lintels  of 
the  normal  length  supplied  by  the  quarrymen  were,  from 
constructive  reasons  presently  to  be  adduced,  adjusted  with¬ 
out  curtailment  to  agree  with  the  details  of  a  frieze  cor- 


282 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


responding  to  somewhat  narrower  intercolumniations  than 
those  of  the  peripteros.  It  is  obviously  impossible  to  assume 
any  fundamentally  different  division  of  the  pronaos  frieze. 
Broad  as  the  central  intercolumniation  was,  the  lintel  above 
it  was  still  much  too  short  to  permit  of  the  introduction  of 
a  supernumerary  metope  and  triglyph.  We  need  not,  of 
course,  suppose  the  spacing  to  have  been  perfectly  equal  ; 
the  increase  of  ten  or  fifteen  centimeters,  apparent  from  the 
lintels  in  question,  would  have  sufficed  to  effect  the  equaliza¬ 
tion  in  a  manner  perfectly  satisfactory  to  any  eye  which 
would  tolerate  the  irregularities  known  to  have  existed  upon 
the  facades.  In  the  light  thus  thrown  upon  the  construction 
of  the  cella  front,  we  can  readily  perceive  the  reasons  which 
led  the  ancient  builders  to  permit  a  very  considerable  exten¬ 
sion  of  these  lateral  epistyle  beams  beyond  the  axes  of  the 
columns  in  antis.  This  can  only  have  been  done  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  decreasing  the  length  of  the  central  lintel  spanning 
the  widest  intercolumniation  of  the  building. 

It  may  further  be  noticed  that  the  two  epistyle  beams  with 
the  reliefs  of  the  butting  bulls  are  the  only  ones  which  do  not 
display  upon  the  edges  of  their  soffits  those  shallow  sinkings 
of  rectangular  plan  intended  to  receive  the  end  of  a  crowbar 
during  the  process  of  shifting  the  stone  to  its  exact  position. 
Although  scarcely  of  itself  sufficient  to  furnish  a  definite  proof, 
this  peculiarity  suggests  the  employment  of  another  means  for 
the  lifting  and  setting  of  these  lintels  of  the  pronaos  than  that 
adopted  to  meet  the  different  requirements  of  the  peripteros, 
and  may  hence  be  advanced  in  support  of  the  arrangement 
proposed  upon  other  grounds. 

That  the  entablature  upon  the  front  of  the  cella  should 
have  been  distinguished  by  sculptures,  is  entirely  in  keeping 
with  the  importance  assigned  by  ancient  architects  to  the 
portal  of  the  inner  fane.  Doric  temples,  in  which  sculp- 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1SS3.  283 

tured  decorations  were,  from  motives  of  economy,  not  extend¬ 
ed  to  the  entire  edifice,  invariably  display  their  finest  reliefs, 
whether  metopes  or  consecutive  frieze,  above  the  pronaos. 
Well  known  instances  of  this  are  the  temple  of  Bassai, 
the  temple  of  Sounion,  and  that  most  striking  analogy,  the 
Theseion. 

Moreover,  the  subject  represented  upon  these  two  lintels, 
so  entirely  unconnected  with  the  extended  scenes  of  the 
outer  entablature,  is  such  as  to  render  them  eminently  suit¬ 
able  to  the  decoration  of  the  inner  house  of  the  goddess.  It 
relates,  not  to  the  exploits  of  the  Aeolic  hero  there  depicted, 
but,  as  will  be  set  forth  in  a  subsequent  connection,  to  the 
peculiar  cult  of  Trojan  and  Assian  Athena. 

And,  in  conclusion,  the  argument  may  be  enforced  by  a 
reference  to  the  strictly  symmetrical  and  almost  heraldic 
manner  in  which  the  animals  are  depicted.  It  is  at  once 
obvious  that  these  panels  were  intended  to  be  seen  as  pen¬ 
dants.  So  decisive  is  the  indication  thus  afforded,  that  it 
induced  the  designer  of  the  French  restoration  of  the  temple 
to  assign  these  shortest  known  epistyle  beams  to  the  widest 
intercolumniations  of  the  building,  at  the  corners  of  the  main 
facade.1  It  is  impossible  not  to  recognize  the  correctness  of 
the  instinct  which  led  to  this  error,  readily  to  be  detected  by 
a  measurement  of  even  the  few  fragments  removed  to  the 
Louvre ;  and  it  is  satisfactory  that  the  principle,  though  in  a 
different  application,  may  now  be  justified  by  the  most  careful 
comparison  of  the  actual  dimensions. 

1  Texier,  Description ,  vol.  ii.  pi.  112.  In  the  volume  of  L'Univers,  referred 
to  in  a  foregoing  note,  the  author  explicitly  remarks,  “  Les  deux  extremites  de 
la  facade  etaient  ornees  de  deux  couples  de  taureaux  dans  l’attitude  de  combat.” 
The  lion  and  bull,  and  the  two  lions  and  deer,  occupy  the  intermediate  lintels? 
In  order  to  make  them  fit  the  given  spaces,  these  blocks  have  been  subjected  to 
a  truly  Procrustean  elongation,  even  the  reliefs  of  the  wild  beasts  last  men¬ 
tioned  being  of  that  short  length  which  proves  them  to  have  belonged  to  the 
sides  of  the  building. 


284 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Six  sculptured  metopes  belonging  to  the  temple  are  now 
known,  three  of  these  having  been  removed  from  Assos  to 
the  Louvre,  and  three  brought  to  light  during  the  American 
excavations.  Four  are  preserved  in  their  entire  width,  yet  in 
only  one  of  these  can  the  exact  distance  between  the  edges 
of  the  bordering  triglyphs  be  ascertained.  This  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  rebates,  of  slightly  variable  depth,  were  generally 
cut  upon  the  ends  of  the  projecting  bands,  so  as  to  fit  into 
the  corresponding  reveal  of  the  triglyphs,  in  order  to  prevent 
the  appearance  of  open  joints.  In  such  cases  the  exposed 
face  was,  of  course,  narrower  than  the  slab  itself,  and  no 
conclusions  are  to  be  drawn  in  this  regard  concerning  four 
of  the  metopes,  the  edges  of  which  have  been  so  weathered 
and  defaced  that  the  extent  of  the  overlap  cannot  now  be 
determined. 

Accurate  measurements  in  this  respect  are  to  be  taken  only 

from  the  relief  of  the  running  centaur,  Figure  72.  While  the 

total  width  of  the  slab  is  a  fraction  over  73  cm.,  that  of  the 

*  _ 

face  visible  between  the  rebates  is  68  cm.  The  latter  dimen¬ 
sion  is  exactly  that  of  the  exceptionally  narrow  space  remain¬ 
ing  between  the  regulas  of  one  of  the  epistyle  blocks  of  the 
eastern  front ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  metope 
was  placed  above  the  right-hand  side  of  the  second  inter- 
columniation,  from  the  south,  of  this  fagade,  as  shown  in 
Figures  55  and  62.  The  sculptures  upon  the  epistyle,  and 
the  metope  above  it,  are  thus  seen  to  have  agreed,  in  this 
instance,  both  in  subject  and  direction  of  composition  ;  and  it 
is  natural  to  assume  that  this  was  the  case  with  all  those 
metopes  where  such  an  agreement  is  indicated  by  repetition 
of  type. 

According  to  this  principle,  the  relief  of  the  two  squatting 
sphinxes  repeated  in  heraldic  symmetry,  Figure  73,  would  be 
assigned  to  the  central  intercolumniation  of  either  the  eastern\ 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


285 


or  western  front.  Unfortunately,  the  width  of  but  one  of  the 
metopes  placed  above  the  epistyle  blocks  in  question  can 
be  measured  from  the  lintels,  while  the  edges  of  the  sphinx 
metope  are  so  rounded  that  it  is  impossible  to  determine  the 
exact  width  of  the  exposed  face  of  this  slab.  Hence,  no  means 
of  proving  this  contiguity  are  at  hand.  The  dimensions  as 
far  as  they  can  be  ascertained  do  not,  however,  render  it 
improbable.  The  width  of  the  left-hand  metope,  above  the 
central  epistyle  of  the  eastern  front,  was  75  cm.,  somewhat 

73'  82  82 


Fig.  72.  Metope  of  the  Eastern  Entablature  occupying  the 
Fourth  Field  from  the  South. 

Related  in  subject  to  the  series  of  the  Centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe.  . 

Fig.  73.  Metope  showing  the  Coat  of  Arms  of  Assos. 

Probably  placed  above  the  central  epistyle  block  of  one  of  the  fagades. 

Fig.  74.  Metope  related  in  subject  to  the  series  of  the 

Erymanthian  Boar. 

less  than  that  indicated  by  the  82  cm.  of  the  sphinx  metope, 
if  the  rebate  upon  this  slab  be  assumed  to  have  been  of  the 
same  depth  as  those  upon  the  two  centaur  metopes.  The 
right-hand  metope  above  the  central  intercolumniation  of  the 
eastern  front  was  undoubtedly  somewhat  wider  than  the  left, 
averaging,  together  with  the  two  metopes  following  towards 
the  north,  above  the  missing  epistyle  block,  fully  76  cm. 

In  like  manner  the  metope  of  the  boar,  Figure  74,  agreeing 
as  it  does  with  one  of  the  reliefs  of  the  western  front,  both 
in  subject  and  direction  of  composition,  may  be  supposed  to 


286 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


have  occupied  one  of  the  first  four  panels,  counting  from  the 
north,  of  the  frieze  of  that  facade.  Here,  again,  proof  is 
lacking,  as  the  edges  of  the  slab  are  rounded,  and  the  space 
between  two  of  the  regulas  of  the  relief  of  the  lion  and  boar 
cannot  be  measured.  We  must,  furthermore,  admit  the  pos¬ 
sibility  of  this  metope  having  been  above  the  missing  lintel 
of  the  northwestern  corner,  the  subject  of  which  was  in  all 
likelihood  that  of  Herakles  and  the  Erymanthian  boar. 

In  the  case  of  the  three  metopes  brought  to  light  by  the 
American  excavations,  we  have  such,  additional  information  as 


F>g-  75- 


79 


Fig.  75.  Fragment  of  a  Metope,  related  in  subject  to  the  Series  of 
the  Centaurs  of  Mount  Pholoe. 

Probably  from  the  southern  half  of  the  eastern  entablature. 


Fig.  76.  Metope  of  uncertain  location  and  subject. 

Fig.  77.  Fragmentary  Metope,  of  uncertain  location  and  subject. 


may  be  derived  from  a  record  of  the  position  in  which  these 
reliefs  were  found.  The  small  fragment  showing  the  hind 
legs  of  a  centaur,  Figure  75,  was  unearthed  close  to  the  south¬ 
eastern  corner  of  the  temple,  together  with  a  number  of  blocks 
known  to  have  appertained  to  that  part  of  the  entablature. 
There  is  thus  good  ground  for  the  belief  that  this  centaur 
metope,  like  that  other  one  already  considered,  stood  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  series  relating  to  Herakles  and  Pholos,  and 
occupied  one  of  the  three  southernmost  panels  of  the  eastern 
facade.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  galloping  position  and 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1SS3. 


287 


the  direction  of  the  course  are  in  both  cases  the  same  as 
those  of  the  centaurs  depicted  upon  the  epistyle. 

The  entire  metope,  Figure  76,  was  found  to  have  been  re¬ 
moved  from  the  spot  where  it  had  fallen,  and  to  have  been 
incorporated  into  the  rude  Byzantine  fortifications  erected 
upon  the  west  of  the  citadel.  The  exact  point  is  marked 
D  upon  the  plan  of  the  Acropolis,  Preliminary  Report, 
Plate  2.  Inasmuch  as  both  the  other  reliefs  found  in  this 
rampart  are  known  to  have  belonged  to  the  western  facade, 
it  appears  probable  that  this  metope  ornamented  that  end 
of  the  building.  It  certainly  was  not  placed  above  the  relief 
of  Herakles  and  Triton,  the  regulas  of  which  correspond  to 
slabs  of  considerably  greater  width  ;  and  the  movement  of 
the  composition,  from  left  to  right,  renders  it  unlikely  that 
it  was  above  the  southern  half  of  the  eastern  front. 

The  two  fragments  of  a  metope  shown  in  Figure  77  were 
found  buried  in  the  earth  which  had  accumulated  upon  the 
stylobate  of  the  temple  itself,  and,  as  the  original  width  of 
the  slab  is  not  apparent,  we  possess  no  indications  whatever 
in  regard  to  its  original  position. 

The  two  metopes  last  considered  apparently  represent  com¬ 
bats  of  Herakles,  and  form  further  illustrations  of  the  theme 
chosen  for  the  decoration  of  the  peripteros.  Standing  in  no 
direct  connection  with  the  four  great  scenes  of  the  epistyle, 
they  open  a  wide  field  for  conjecture  in  regard  to  the  number 
of  exploits  thus  depicted.  It  is  highly  improbable,  if  not 
absolutely  impossible,  that  all  six  of  these  reliefs  are  to  be 
assigned  to  the  metopes  of  the  eastern  front,  the  widths  of 
which,  enumerating  them  in  their  order  from  south  to  north, 
are  known  to  have  been  93,  74,  81,  68,  75,  three  unknown 
averaging  76,  and,  finally,  90  and  85  cm.  It  is  hence  to  be 
assumed  that  all  the  metopes  of  both  fronts  were  sculptured, 
and  that  fourteen  of  the  twenty  slabs  thus  distinguished  have 


288 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


disappeared.  That  a  proportionately  smaller  number  of  meto¬ 
pes  than  of  epistyle  blocks  should  have  survived  the  ruin 
of  the  edifice,  is  readily  explained  by  the  consideration  that 
their  smaller  size,  square  shape,  and  plane  backs  adapted 
them  better  to  the  needs  of  Byzantine  and  Turkish  builders. 
Restriction  of  the  sculptured  metopes  to  one  or  both  fronts 
was  a  common  practice  in  Greek  architecture,  as,  for  in¬ 
stance,  in  two  of  the  temples  of  Selinous.  The  metopes  of 
the  sides,  like  those  of  the  fronts,  may  be  supposed  to  have 
been  painted,  the  differences  between  the  reliefs  and  the 
unsculptured  surfaces  being  rendered  less  apparent  by  this 
means. 

Here  we  may  terminate  our  investigation  into  the  positions 
occupied  by  the  sculptures  of  the  temple.  For  the  benefit  of 
those  who  may  not  have  cared  to  enter  into  all  the  details  of 
the  argument,  the  conclusions  are  graphically  set  forth  in  the 
plan  of  the  entablature,  Figure  78.  The  sculptured  epistyle 
blocks  now  known  are  shown  in  solid  black,  and  the  names 
of  their  subjects  are  given  in  the  larger  lettering.  The 
smaller  lettering  indicates  the  probable  sequence  of  the  series. 
The  arrows  drawn  between  the  lettering  and  the  entablature 
denote  the  direction  of  the  composition  of  the  sculptured 
blocks,  and  show  the  entire  regularity  of  the  arrangement  in 
this  respect. 

The  question  which  naturally  arises  as  to  the  proportion  of 
sculptured  blocks,  known  and  unknown,  is  best  answered  by 
an  analysis  of  this  plan.  One  lintel  is  certainly  lacking  from 
the  eastern,  and  two  from  the  western  facade.  If  the  reliefs 
were  extended  over  an  equal  number  of  intercolumniations 
upon  the  two  sides,  at  least  six  sculptured  epistyle  blocks  of 
the  shorter  span  are  missing.  The  loss  which  we  most  de¬ 
plore  is  that  of  the  central  lintel  of  the  pronaos  entablature, 
the  subject  of  which  doubtless  had  reference  to  the  cult  of 


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CENTAURS 

CENTAURS 

* 


Fig.  78.  Plan  of  the  Epistyle  of  the  Temple  of  Assos,  showing 
in  Black  the  Position  of  the  known  Reliefs. 


290 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Assian  Athena.  From  these  imperfect  indications  we  should 
assume  the  epistyle  of  the  peripteros  to  have  had  twenty 
sculptured  panels,  of  which  twelve  now  exist,  in  more  or  less 
considerable  fragments.  Of  the  unsculptured  epistyle  blocks, 
the  remains  of  eleven,  or  possibly  of  twelve,  were  found  upon 
the  site.  If  twenty-four  of  the  forty-four  lintels  of  the  perip¬ 
teros  were  plain,  this  is  a  somewhat  smaller  proportion  than 
that  of  the  known  to  the  unknown  reliefs.  It  is,  however,  to 
be  supposed  that  the  stones  with  plane  faces  would  be  se¬ 
lected  by  Byzantine  and  Turkish  builders  in  preference  to  the 
others,  —  the  Mohammedan  antipathy  to  graven  images  de¬ 
termining  this  preference  no  less  than  the  practical  consider¬ 
ations  of  unskilled  masons. 

The  most  significant  fact  which  has  been  elicited  through 
this  examination  is,  that  the  sculptured  face  of  the  epistyle 
was  not  broken  up  into  independent  and  disconnected  panels, 
as  has  been  assumed  in  the  French  restoration,  and  in  all 
those  text-books  which  treat  of  this  subject,  so  exceptional  in 
the  history  of  Greek  architecture.  The  reliefs  formed  four 
extended  compositions,  with  their  chief  scenes  at  the  corners 
of  the  building,  separated  in  the  middle  of  the  facades  by  the 
coat-of-arms  of  the  city.  A  canon  of  the  Doric  style,  embody¬ 
ing  one  of  the  principles  of  architectural  propriety,  forbade 
the  decoration  of  members  directly  functional  in  the  construct¬ 
ive  framework,  but,  in  this  instance,  this  canon  was  set  aside 
for  a  definite  purpose,  that  of  securing  for  the  sculptures  the 
continuity  of  the  Ionic  zophoros.  It  was  a  similar  purpose, 
coupled  with  the  determination  to  respect  the  laws  of  the 
style,  which  induced  Iktinos  to  hide  the  frieze  of  the  Par¬ 
thenon  behind  the  columns  of  his  peripteros.  In  aesthetic 
respects  we  must  condemn  the  expedient  adopted  in  the 
temple  of  Assos.  Yet,  in  tardy  justice  to  the  unknown  and 
much  maligned  architect,  we  may  now  recognize  the  fact  that 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


29I 


the  decoration  of  the  epistyle  was  decided  upon,  not  as  an 
altogether  purposeless  innovation,  but  in  the  desire  of  secur¬ 
ing  a  recognized  advantage  ;  and,  as  in  every  genuine  en¬ 
deavor  to  effect  an  improvement,  the  design,  with  all  its 
faults,  thereby  attained  a  high  degree  of  individuality  and 
interest.  In  connection  with  a  plan  of  absolute  regularity, 
this  provincial  attempt  to  extend  and  connect  the  sculptured 
decorations,  undisciplined  and  injudicious  as  it  was,  must 
have  given  to  the  temple  an  air  of  rude  picturesqueness 
analogous  to  that  which  we  find  so  attractive  in  the  earliest 
edifices  of  the  Romanic  style  in  Northern  Europe. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


DATE  OF  THE  TEMPLE. 

I  "HE  Temple  of  Assos  is  of  unique  interest  in  the  history 

-T  of  ancient  art,  not  only  because  of  the  enigmatic  char¬ 
acter  of  its  sculptures,  but  because  of  the  fact  that  it  is  the 
only  known  Doric  edifice  in  Asia  Minor  which  antedates  the 
decadence  of  that  style.  The  determination  of  its  date  is 
therefore  a  matter  of  signal  importance.  A  definite  settle¬ 
ment  of  the  disputes  which  have  arisen  in  this  regard  would 
of  itself  justify  the  direction  of  the  American  expedition  to 
this  site. 

Prior  to  these  investigations  little  information  of  a  posi¬ 
tive  nature  was  to  be  gathered,  either  from  the  fragmentary 
and  disconnected  reliefs  removed  to  Paris,  or  from  the  alto¬ 
gether  incorrect  and  misleading  engravings  of  the  archi¬ 
tectural  remains  which  had  been  published  by  earlier 
explorers.1  Notwithstanding  this,  the  age  of  the  monu¬ 
ment  and  its  position  in  the  development  of  Hellenic 
sculpture  and  architecture  have  been  discussed  with  extra¬ 
ordinary  boldness  of  assumption  by  those  scholars  whose 
delight  it  is  to  reduce  every  phenomenon  of  the  classic 
world  to  a  categorized  system.  Almost  every  archaeologist 
who  has  had  occasion  to  refer  to  the  Assos  reliefs  stands 
committed  to  some  opinion  on  these  points.  A  date, 
expressed  with  greater  or  less  precision,  is  to  be  found 

1  Instances  of  Texier’s  perversions  of  fact  in  his  description  of  the  architec¬ 
ture  of  the  temple  have  been  adduced  in  sufficient  number  in  the  Preliminary 
Report ,  pp.  1 8,  99,  etc. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


293 


in  almost  every  book  which  deals  with  the  history  of  ancient 
art.  It  was  inevitable  that  such  assumptions  should  be  char¬ 
acterized  by  a  high  degree  of  incompatibility,  and  we  have  lit¬ 
tle  cause  for  surprise  when  we  find  them  ranging  even  from 
the  twelfth  century  to  the  fifth  century  before  Christ,  —  from 
semi-mythical  ages  preceding  the  Dorian  migration  to  the 
years  which  witnessed  the  rivalry  of  full-grown  Hellenic  states, 
and  the  outbreak  of  the  Peloponnesian  War. 

Bursian  1  brackets  the  sculptures  of  Assos  with  the  Gate 
of  the  Lions  at  Mykenai  and  with  works  of  Assyrian  art  at 
the  period  of  its  highest  development.  In  a  more  recent 
history,  Perry 2  lays  stress  upon  their  “  most  primitive  char¬ 
acter,  ...  in  the  highest  degree  archaic,”  conceiving  them  to 
be  “  among  the  very  earliest  works  of  the  relief  style.” 
Friedrichs,3  followed  by  Wolters,4  refers  them  to  the  seventh 
century,  remarking  that  they  are  among  the  most  ancient 
works  of  Greek  art,  and  that  they  cannot  have  been  pre¬ 
ceded  by  any  development  extending  over  a  considerable 
period  of  time.  Studniczka6  assigns  the  reliefs  to  the 
seventh  century;  Furtwangler,6  describing  them  as  “  hoch- 
alterthiimlich,”  classes  them  with  monuments  of  the  seventh 
and  first  half  of  the  sixth  century;  Murray7  thinks  them  not 
later  than  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century;  and  Liibke8  char- 

1  Bursian,  s.  v.  Griechische  Kunst ,  in  Ersch  und  Gruber’s  Allgemeine  Encyclo- 
p'ddie,  vol.  lxxxii.,  Leipzig,  1862. 

2  Perry  (Walter  Copland),  Greek  and  Roman  Sculpture,  London,  1882. 

3  Friedrichs  (Carl),  Berlin's  Antike  Bildwerke  ( Bausteine ),  Diisseldorf, 
1868-71,  vol.  i.,  and  in  Schnaase’s  Geschichte  der  Bildenden  Kiinste,  2d  ed., 
Diisseldorf,  1866-79,  vol.  ii.  p.  126. 

4  Wolters,  in  Friedrichs’s  Gypsabgiisse  antiker  Bildwerke  in  historischer  Folge 
erklart,  2d  ed.,  Berlin,  1885. 

5  Studniczka,  Attische  Porosgiebel ,  Mittheilungen  des  deutschen  archdologischen 
Instituts,  vol.  xi.,  Athen,  1886,  p.  75. 

6  Furtwangler,  s.  v.  Herakles ,  in  Roscher’s  Lexikon,  p.  2193. 

7  Murray,  History  of  Greek  Sculpture,  London,  1880-83. 

8  Liibke,  Geschichte  der  Plastik,  3d  ed.,  Leipzig,  1880,  vol.  i. 


294  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 

acterizes  them  as  the  most  primitive  among  those  works  of 
sculpture  which  have  come  down  to  us  from  the  archaic  age. 
Krell 1  refers  the  building  of  the  temple  to  the  period 
immediately  succeeding  the  Lydian  conquest  of  the  Troad 
(b.  c.  560),  but  adds  that,  judging  from  the  sculptures,  it 
may  be  somewhat  more  recent ;  while  Durm,2  expressing  a 
decided  opinion  that  the  building  was  anterior  to  the  invasion 
of  Kroisos,  fixes  the  date,  with  a  single  note  of  interrogation, 
at  the  year  600  b.  c.  A  certain  allowance  is,  however,  to  be 
made  in  the  case  of  the  two  authorities  last  named,  inasmuch 
as  these  viewed  the  problem  mainly  in  its  architectural  as¬ 
pects.  The  drawings  and  restorations  of  Texier,  upon  which 
their  judgments  were  based,  undoubtedly  do  bestow  an  air  of 
extreme  rudeness  upon  the  temple.  The  excessive,  and,  as 
Krell  terms  it,  “  baggy  ”  entasis  of  the  shafts  (which  are  in 
reality  perfectly  straight-lined),  —  the  fictitious  course  of 
mouldings  interposed  between  the  frieze  and  the  corona,  in 
strange  disaccord  with  the  normal  forms  of  the  Doric  en¬ 
tablature,  —  the  supernumerary  steps  upon  the  fronts,  — 
the  lack  of  an  incision  between  hypotrachelion  and  upper¬ 
most  drum,  —  the  trapeze-shaped  regulas,  —  combine  with  a 
host  of  similarly  incorrect  features  of  plan  and  elevation  to 
give  to  the  edifice  a  grotesque  and  primitive  aspect,  which 
would,  indeed,  be  wholly  inexplicable  in  any  known  period 
of  Greek  architectural  history. 

Contrasted  with  these  extreme  views,  we  have  the  opinions 
of  two  historians  of  Greek  art,  whose  writings  have  been 
distinguished  in  a  high  degree  by  penetration,  lucidity,  and 
independence,  and  who  have  been  the  first  to  advance  well 

1  Krell  (Philipp  F.),  Geschichte  des  dorischen  Styls,  Stuttgart,  1870,  p.  20. 

2  Durm,  Baukunst  der  Griechen ,  Darmstadt,  1881,  p.  5>  and  P*  I3S-  Obvi¬ 
ously  mistaking  the  sense  of  the  word  which  he  employs,  Durm  speaks  of  the 
“pronounced  archaistic  [sic\  character  ”  of  the  temple  of  Assos. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


295 


founded  doubts  concerning  the  great  antiquity  so  generally 
attributed  to  the  sculptures  of  Assos.  The  earlier  of  these, 
Reber,1  has  contended,  in  words  exactly  contradictory  to 
those  of  Furtwangler,  that  the  “  keineswegs  so  hochalter- 
thiimlicher  Fries”  does  not  warrant  the  assignment  of  the 
temple  of  Assos  to  the  most  archaic  period  of  the  Doric 
style.  The  second,  Overbeck,2  quoting  Reber,  has  enforced 
this  view  with  definite  arguments,  carrying  the  examination 
into  greater  detail.  He  has  pointed  out  that  representations 
analogous  to  the  relief  of  Herakles  and  Triton,  in  point  of 
style  as  well  as  of  subject,  are  found,  not  among  the  works 
of  immature  Greek  art,  but  in  a  class  of  vase  paintings  of 
comparatively  late  date,  remarkable  because  of  the  frequency 
with  which  they  depict  figures  with  inclined  bodies.  This 
class  of  vase  paintings  he  maintains  to  be  the  earliest  in 
which  such  ingeniously  designed  subjects,  fully  developed 
in  organic  respects,  albeit  somewhat  exaggerated  in  move¬ 
ment,  are  known  to  appear.3  Indications  derived  from 
parallels  such  as  this,  from  the  formation  and  action  of  the 
smaller  figures  of  the  same  relief,  and  from  the  appearance 
of  horse-legged  centaurs  upon  another  block,  have  led 

1  Reber  (Franz),  Geschichte  der  Baukunst  im  Alterthume,  Leipzig,  1866, 
and  Kunstgeschichte  des  Alterthums ,  Leipzig,  1871,  p.  213.  In  the  American 
edition  of  the  latter  work,  History  of  Ancient  Art,  by  Dr.  Franz  von  Reber, 
translated  and  augmented  by  Joseph  Thacher  Clarke,  New  York,  1882,  the 
translator  omitted  the  words  above  quoted,  thinking  it  advisable  to  be  less 
committal  in  respect  to  the  age  of  the  sculptures,  in  view  of  the  decisive  in¬ 
formation  so  soon  to  be  expected  from  the  excavations  at  Assos,  then  about  to 
commence.  This  omission  he  has  now  cause  to  regret. 

2  Overbeck  (Johannes),  Geschichte  der  griechischen  Plastik,  3d  ed.,  Leipzig, 
1881-83. 

8  The  chief  argument  to  this  effect  is  based  upon  the  fact  that  designs  of  this 
nature  are  not  to  be  found  in  archaic  compositions  of  the  style  represented,  for 
instance,  on  the  vases  published  in  plates  95  and  96  of  Gerhard’s  Auserlesene 
Griechische  Vasenbilder,  while  they  correspond  well  with  later  paintings,  such 
as  those  shown  on  plates  94,  102,  105,  hi,  and  113  of  the  same  work,  and  on 
plate  D  of  Gerhard’s  Etruskische  und  Kampanische  Vasenbilder. 


296 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Overbeck  to  deny  to  the  Assos  sculptures  that  great  an¬ 
tiquity  attributed  to  them  by  so  many  antiquaries,  and  to 
doubt  whether  they  are,  at  all  events,  earlier  than  the  six¬ 
tieth  Olympiad.  This  is  the  first  and  only  attempt  to  deter¬ 
mine  the  age  of  the  temple  by  the  comparative  methods  of 
historical  science ;  for  we  can  scarcely  give  precedence  in 
this  Respect  to  Clarac,1  who  supported  his  opinion  that  the 
reliefs  of  Assos  were  contemporary  with  the  gable  group  of 
Aigina  by  arguing  that,  as  Pliny2  informs  us,  it  was  not  until 
the  fiftieth  Olympiad  that  the  Daidalian  sculptors  Dipoinos 
and  Skyllis  employed  marble  in  statuary.  We  may  conse¬ 
quently  assume  that  the  hard  and  coarse  stone  of  Assos 
could  not  have  been  worked  by  the  Greeks  before  the  ac¬ 
quirement  of  considerable  experience  in  the  tooling  of  more 
tractable  materials. 

In  view,  however,  of  the  scanty  and  untrustworthy  data 
at  the  disposal  of  the  scholars  whose  opinions  have  been 
cited,  no  surprise  can  be  felt  at  the  want  of  agreement  be¬ 
tween  their  estimates,  or  at  their  failure  to  hit  upon  the 
actual  truth.  The  American  investigations  have  been  the 
first  to  provide  materials  fully  adequate  for  a  solution  of 
the  problem.  The  reliefs  known  are  now  nearly  twice  as 
numerous  as  before,  and  are,  moreover,  seen  to  have  stood 
in  definite  relation,  as  parts  of  a  mythological  series,  the  sub¬ 
jects  of  which  were  carefully  considered  and  highly  significant. 
Above  all,  a  definite  determination  of  the  architectural  char¬ 
acteristics  of  the  edifice  enables  us  to  establish  the  exact 
position  of  its  design  in  the  history  of  the  Doric  style. 

1  Clarac,  Musie ,  vol.  ii.  2d  partie,  Paris,  1841.  Clarac,  as  will  be  remem¬ 
bered,  believed  the  trachyte  of  the  Assos  reliefs,  which  were  sawed  into  thin 
slabs  under  his  personal  supervision,  to  be  a  granite.  Compare  note  1,  page  51, 
of  the  present  volume.  It  seems  unnecessary  to  enter  into  a  serious  refutation 
of  an  argument  such  as  this. 

2  Pliny,  Nat.  Hist.,  XXXVI.  4.  1. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


297 


The  conclusions  thus  reached  may  be  concisely  stated  at 
the  outset.  The  temple  of  Assos  was  erected  during  the  age 
which  had  seen  the  termination  of  the  Persian  wars,  towards 
the  middle  of  the  fifth  century  before  Christ,  at  that  period 
when  the  Greeks  of  the  Asiastic  coast  were  in  the  first  en¬ 
joyment  of  their  relief  from  Oriental  oppression.  The  build¬ 
ing  was  unquestionably  somewhat  later  in  date  than  either  the 
temple  of  Aigina  or  the  Theseion,  and  contemporaneous  with, 
or  somewhat  older  than,  the  temple  of  Sounion.  The  archaic 
appearance  of  the  sculptures,  to  which  many  advanced  fea¬ 
tures  present  a  marked  contrast,  is  to  be  attributed  to  the 
influence  of  local  and  conservative  tendencies,  favored  by  the 
refractory  character  of  the  material  in  which  they  were  exe¬ 
cuted.  Paradoxical  as  it  may  appear,  the  temple  of  Assos  is 
of  nearly  the  same  date  as  the  Parthenon.1 

That  rude  and  primitive  character,  which  so  many  writers 
on  Greek  art  have  sought  to  explain  by  the  assumption  of  a 
remote  date,  is  to  be  attributed  to  provincialism;  a  factor 
which,  be  it  observed,  has  by  no  means  received  due  weight 
in  the  estimates  of  many  similar  archaeological  problems. 

1  Are  we  actually  to  believe,  it  may  be  asked,  that  the  rude  figures  of  the 
temple  of  Assos  were  sculptured  at  the  same  period  as  the  incomparable  gable 
groups  of  the  Parthenon  ?  Not  necessarily.  We  have  to  take  into  considera¬ 
tion  in  this  connection  the  revolutionary  hypothesis  of  Puchstein,  —  first  pub¬ 
lished  in  the  Berliner  philologische  Wochenschrift,  Winckelmannsfest  der  archa- 
ologischen  Gesellschaft  zu  Berlin ,  January  18,  1890,  and  subsequently  elaborated, 
with  highly  interesting  sections  of  the  draperies  of  the  different  schools,  in  the 
Jahrbuch  des preussischen  archaologischen  Institute,  vol.  v.,  1890,  Pleft  2,  Die  Par- 
thenonskulpturen.  According  to  this  view,  which  in  the  opinion  of  the  present 
writer  has  been  established  by  scientific  methods  of  comparison,  the  sculptures 
of  the  Parthenon  were  not  the  work  of  Pheidias,  or  of  his  generation.  They  are  to 
be  ascribed  to  some  date  subsequent,  at  all  events,  to  430  b.  c.,  and  are  possibly 
more  recent  by  half  a  century  than  the  architectural  design.  If  we  are  to  seek, 
among  the  contemporary  works  of  European  Greece,  a  parallel  to  the  sculptures 
of  the  temple  of  Assos,  a  more  fitting  example,  itself  displaying  marked  inequality 
of  treatment,  would  be  the  central  group  of  the  eastern  gable  of  the  temple  of 
Zeus  at  Olympia,  which  must  be  very  nearly  of  the  same  age. 


298 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


From  the  point  of  view  of  the  practical  investigator,  it  is 
peculiarly  unfortunate  that  the  foundations  of  the  temple  of 
Assos  should  have  been  laid  directly  upon  the  native  rock, 
and  have  thus  precluded  the  possibility  of  a  discovery,  be¬ 
neath  the  stylobate,  of  vestiges  of  an  earlier  occupation  of 
the  site,  such  as  those  which  proved  of  decisive  importance 
in  the  exploration  of  the  Olympian  Altis.  The  only  spot  in 
which  any  considerable  bed  of  earth  existed  beneath  the 
stones  of  the  temple  was  within  the  cella,  and  here  the  laying 
of  the  mosaic  pavement,  apparently  to  be  referred  to  the 
fourth  century  before  Christ,  led  to  disturbances  of  the  soil 
which  make  it  impossible  to  draw  conclusions  from  objects 
discovered  therein  respecting  the  epoch  of  the  original  con¬ 
struction.1  The  inconsiderable  deposits  of  earth  which  exist 
beneath  the  paving  stones  of  the  pteroma,  and  which  may, 
or  may  not,  have  been  disturbed  at  a  subsequent  period, 
were,  when  accessible,  carefully  sifted  by  the  explorers,  but 
were  found  to  contain  nothing  beyond  a  few  small  sherds  of 
an  unglazed  pottery,  such  as  was  in  every-day  use  from  the 
earliest  to  the  latest  ages  of  Greek  antiquity. 

In  the  entire  absence  of  direct  indications,  the  only  defi¬ 
nite  proofs  as  to  the  age  of  the  building  are  to  be  derived 
from  a  comparison  of  the  leading  features  of  the  temple  of 
Assos  with  those  of  temples  of  the  same  style  and  of  known 
date.  Architecture,  as  has  been  generally  recognized,  is  less 
influenced  by  personal  and  local  conditions  than  sculpture, 
and  is  hence  that  art  in  which  a  regular  growth  is  best  to  be 
traced.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  development  in  the  art 
of  building  —  in  respect  to  design,  as  well  as  in  respect  to 

1  The  discovery,  beneath  the  mosaic  floor  of  the  naos,  of  various  fragments 
of  painted  and  moulded  vessels,  as  well  as  of  a  bronze  coin, —  all  of  which 
probably  belonged  to  the  fourth  century  before  Christ,  —  has  been  mentioned  in 
a  former  chapter,  page  72. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


299 


those  improvements  of  plan  and  construction  which  are  insep¬ 
arably  connected  therewith  —  is  dependent  upon  the  regular 
advance  of  technical  invention,  and  upon  the  degree  of  civil¬ 
ization  and  culture  of  a  race  or  community,  rather  than  upon 
any  stimulation  or  refinement  of  the  imaginative  and  percep¬ 
tive  faculties  of  individual  members  of  such  race  or  commu¬ 
nity.  The  works  of  the  formative  arts,  in  the  historical  view, 
are  always  affected  in  a  marked  degree  by  local  and  individual 
influences.  Throughout  the  long  vista  of  artistic  history, 
sculpture  and  painting  are  naturally  divided  into  countless 
schools ,  working  in  more  or  less  restricted  fields,  while 
architecture  is,  on  the  other  hand,  grouped  in  styles ,  — 
like  the  Roman,  the  Byzantine,  and  the  Gothic,  —  extend¬ 
ing,  with  comparatively  slight  and  superficial  variations, 
throughout  the  entire  world  influenced  by  a  kindred  civili¬ 
zation.  Hence  it  follows  that  reliefs  or  wall  paintings  can¬ 
not  provide  us  with  so  direct  and  so  valid  arguments  in 
respect  to  the  age  of  the  monuments  with  which  they 
are  connected,  as  the  plan  and  the  constructive  details  of  the 
architectural  framework. 

These  conclusions  are  of  especial  force  at  Assos,  where  the 
sculptures  are  extraordinarily  provincial  in  character,  —  works 
of  different  hands,  displaying  the  greatest  dissimilarity  of  con¬ 
ception  and  execution  ;  as,  for  instance,  the  horse-  and  human¬ 
legged  centaurs  of  adjoining  panels,  —  yet  where  the  archi¬ 
tectural  features,  of  a  most  pronounced  and  regularly  devel¬ 
oped  style,  are  directly  dependent  upon  the  contemporary 
advances  of  the  Doric  peripteros  in  European  Greece.  Hence 
the  synthetical  methods  of  architectural  history  here  find  a 
most  direct  and  most  trustworthy  application. 

This  will  become  evident  from  a  comparison  of  the  temple 
of  Assos  with  its  immediate  prototypes. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  sixth  century,  before  the  in- 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


300 

terruption  of  the  development  of  archaic  Greek  art  by  the 
inroads  of  the  Persians,  architects  of  Attica  and  Aigina  had 
effected  signal  improvements  in  the  arrangement  and  propor¬ 
tions  of  the  Doric  peripteros. 

Recent  researches  have  shown  that  the  excessive  elonga¬ 
tion  of  the  archaic  plan,  so  noticeable  in  the  temple  of 
Corinth,1  had  been  greatly  reduced  in  the  older  temple 
upon  Cape  Sounion,2  an  edifice  which  appears  to  have  been 
unfinished  at  the  time  of  its  demolition  by  the  barbarians. 
The  length  of  the  stylobate,  which  was  at  Corinth  twice 
and  a  half  its  width,3  was  at  Sounion  less  than  twice  and 
a  third  its  width  ;  the  appearance  of  the  edifice  being  more 
affected  thereby  than  might  be  conceived  from  the  bare 
statement  of  the  proportions  of  the  oblong.  Thus,  while 
there  were  fifteen  columns  upon  the  side  of  the  temple 
of  Corinth,  there  were  at  Sounion  but  thirteen,  the  fronts 
of  both  edifices  being  hexastyle.  The  absolute  dimensions  of 
the  temple  were  at  the  same  time  reduced  to  about  three 
fifths  of  those  previously  in  vogue,  this  reduction  proving  of 
excellent  effect,  in  aesthetic  as  well  as  in  economic  respects. 

1  Dorpfeld  (Wilhelm),  Der  Tempel  von  Korinth,\x\  Mittheilungen  des  deutschen 
archdologischen  Instituts,  vol.  xi.,  Athen,  1886. 

2  Ibid.,  Der  Tempel  von  Sunion ,  in  Mittheilungen  des  deutschen  archdologischen 
Instituts,  vol.  ix.,  Athen,  1884.  The  plan  of  this  temple  given  by  Blouet,  Expedi¬ 
tion  scientifique  de  Moree,  vol.  iii.,  plate  32,  is  altogether  untrustworthy  as  regards 
the  plan  and  dimensions  of  the  edifice,  and  gives  no  indication  of  the  existence  of 
an  older  temple  upon  the  site. 

3  The  proportion  of  two  to  five  in  the  width  and  length  of  the  stylobate 
was  evidently  brought  about  through  the  employment  of  round  numbers  of  the 
units  of  measurement  adopted  in  the  design  of  the  edifice.  This  proportion 
is  so  absolutely  accurate,  —  namely,  21.32  by  53.30  m.,  according  to  Dorpfeld’s 
measurements,  —  that  it  is  impossible  to  suppose  it  to  have  been  due  to  mere 
coincidence. 

The  temple  of  Corinth  is  by  no  means  exceptional  in  this  respect  among 
Greek  ruins  of  its  class.  The  exact  dimensions  of  the  lower  step  of  the  The- 
seion,  which  are  given  by  Penrose  as  14.462  by  32.516  m.,  were  obviously  de¬ 
rived  from  some  round  number  of  feet  having  the  ratio  of  four  to  nine. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1888. 


301 

Unfortunately,  the  exact  conformation  of  the  cella  — that  all- 
important  nucleus  of  the  Doric  plan — is  not  ascertainable 
from  the  vestiges  of  the  older  temple  of  Sounion  which  have 
been  brought  to  light  beneath  the  stylobate  of  the  more  re¬ 
cent  temple.  Still  it  is  certain  that  in  its  width,  and  prob¬ 
able  that  in  its  length  also,  the  cella  of  this  building  presents 
the  earliest  known  instance  of  the  employment  of  those  fixed 
dimensions  (twenty-five  by  seventy  Greek  feet,  or  approxi¬ 
mately  eight  by  twenty-two  and  a  half  meters)  which,  as  we 
shall  see,  were  adhered  to  almost  as  a  hieratic  canon  in  the 
Doric  temples  of  the  first  half  of  the  fifth  century. 

In  the  temple  of  Aigina  (Figure  79),  —  probably  the 
first  edifice  of  its  class  erected  after  the  retreat  of  the  Per¬ 
sians,  and  consequently  but  a  few  years  later  than  the  first 
temple  of  Sounion,  —  these  dimensions  of  the  cella  were 
closely  followed,  while  a  still  further  reduction  of  the  length 
of  the  plan  was  essayed.  The  stylobate  is  here  but  little 
over  twice  its  width,  and  the  flank  has  but  twelve  shafts.  In 
evident  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  eleven  intercolumnia- 
tions  of  the  side  colonnade  were  scarcely  sufficient  to  give  the 
best  proportions  to  the  plan,  these  intercolumniations  were 
extended  as  much  as  possible,  being  wider  even  than  those 
of  the  fronts,  and  greatly  exceeding  those  of  any  other  Doric 
peripteros.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  spaces  remaining  be¬ 
tween  the  end  of  the  cella  and  the  columns  of  the  facades 
were  much  cramped.  The  hyperoon  galleries  within  the 
naos,  which  had  formed  so  important  a  feature  of  the  tem¬ 
ples  of  the  archaic  period,  were  retained,  though  here  ren¬ 
dered  practically  useless  by  reason  of  the  smallness  of  the 
scale.  Finally,  it  may  be  observed,  and  this  is  a  point  of 
particular  importance,  there  is  in  the  temple  of  Aigina  no 
attempt  whatever  to  bring  the  cella  into  organic  connection 
with  the  surrounding  peripteros,  either  by  means  of  the 


3°2 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


agreement  of  main  lines,  or  by  the  introduction  of  epistyle 
beams  extending  from  wall  to  outer  entablature.  The  ori¬ 
ginal  fane,  the  naos,  around  which  the  colonnades  had  been 
erected  as  an  embellishment,  still  formed  a  distinct  and  al¬ 
together  independent  feature  of  the  plan,  the  architectural 
unity  of  which  was  as  yet  incomplete. 


This  last  great  advance  of  the  Doric  style  towards  perfec¬ 
tion  was  reserved  for  the  designer  of  the  Theseion  at  Ath¬ 
ens  (Figure  80),  and  was  more  immediately  brought  about 
through  the  introduction,  above  the  pteroma  and  vestibules, 
of  a  coffered  ceiling  constructed  of  stone.  The  dimensions 
of  the  cella,  before  referred  to,  having  been  found  of  good 
effect  in  the  temples  of  Sounion  and  Aigina,  and  possibly 
having  acquired  some  ritual  significance  now  unknown,  were 
adopted  in  the  Theseion  without  alteration.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  excessive  width  of  the  side  intercolumniations  at 
Aigina  was  recognized  as  a  blemish.  In  the  Theseion,  the 
columns  upon  the  flank  were  again  made  thirteen  in  number, 
the  length  of  the  stylobate  being  increased  by  five  Greek 
feet,  although  the  interval  between  the  shafts  was  reduced 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


303 


to  its  most  advantageous  dimensions.  The  organic  con¬ 
nection  of  cella  and  peripteros  was  thereby  the  more  read¬ 
ily  effected,  the  front  of  the  cella  being  thrown  back  so  far 
from  the  eastern  facade  that  the  columns  in  antis  of  the 
pronaos  were  brought  into  line  with  the  third  columns  of 
the  sides,  with  which  they  were  connected  by  two  transverse 


, — . — ■ — - — ■ — t — * — • — • — • — ■ - ’  20 

Fig.  80.  Plan  of  the  Theseion  at  Athens. 


epistyle  beams,  on  a  level  with  those  of  the  outer  entabla¬ 
ture.  An  important  vestibule  was  thus  created  at  the  east¬ 
ern  end  of  the  edifice,  emphasizing  the  approach  to  the  portal 
of  the  sacred  interior.  The  diminutive  galleries  within  the 
naos  were  wisely  omitted,  and  do  not  appear  in  any  Doric 
hexastyle  of  subsequent  date. 

It  was  this  building,  the  Theseion  at  Athens,  which  was 
regarded  as  the  most  perfect  model  by  the  designer  of  the 
temple  of  Assos.  The  information  placed  at  our  disposal 
by  the  American  excavations  warrants  the  assertion,  that 
the  provincial  architect  was  in  the  possession  of  accurate 
plans  of  the  Attic  masterpiece.  He  exactly  reproduced  the 
dimensions  of  the  cella.  He  adopted  a  slightly  simplified 
and  more  economical  form  of  its  ceiling  of  stone  coffers  and 


304 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


beams.  He  introduced  the  same  trabeate  connection  be¬ 
tween  the  columns  of  the  pronaos  and  the  corresponding 
shafts  of  the  sides,  —  hesitating,  in  like  manner,  to  effect  a 
similar  connection  between  the  rear  of  the  cella  and  the 
peripteros,  and  being  thus  constrained  to  support  this  por¬ 
tion  of  the  coffered  ceiling  by  the  same  inorganic  undertie, 


—  '  '  - ’ — — . . . >  20  >» 

Fig.  8i.  Plan  of  the  Temple  of  Assos. 

which  cannot  but  be  regarded  as  an  inadequate  and  unsuc¬ 
cessful  expedient. 

The  peculiar  features  which  the  Theseion  and  the  temple 
of  Assos  possess  in  common  altogether  exceed  the  possibil¬ 
ities  of  coincidence.  It  is  obvious  that  one  of  the  edifices 
was  copied  in  its  main  features  from  the  other,  and  we  can¬ 
not  for  a  moment  doubt  in  which  of  the  two  it  was  that 
the  great  and  original  improvements  were  first  effected. 
Athens,  in  the  age  of  Perikles,  did  not  seek  its  artistic  in¬ 
spiration  from  remote  and  backward  towns  of  the  Asiatic 
coast.  Assos  was,  moreover,  at  this  very  period  in  political 
confederation  with  Athens,  to  whom  she  looked  as  the  guar¬ 
dian  of  her  newly  acquired  liberty,  and  whom  she  cannot 
but  have  regarded  as  the  most  brilliant  pattern  of  artistic 
excellence. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1883. 


305 


We  have  abundant  proof  that,  throughout  the  Hellenic 
world,  the  Theseion  was  recognized  as  a  decided  success. 
Not  only  were  certain  features  of  its  sculptures  imitated  in 
the  remote  Lycian  village  of  Trysa ; 1  its  coffered  stone  ceil¬ 
ing,  constituting  as  it  did  the  most  striking  architectural 
innovation  which  the  generation  had  witnessed,  is  now  found 


to  have  been  reproduced  upon  the  eastern  coast  of  the 
Aegean,  as  well  as  in  the  extreme  west,  where  an  adaptation 
of  this  type  is  recognizable  in  a  reconstruction  of  the  Tem¬ 
ple  G  (otherwise  R)  of  Selinous,2  probably  of  about  the  same 
date  as  the  building  which  we  have  now  under  consideration. 


1  Between  Kyaneai  and  Myra,  near  the  modern  village  of  Gieulbashi.  The 
reliefs  of  the  heroon  of  this  place  were  removed,  in  the  year  1882,  to  the 
Museum  of  Vienna,  and  are  to  form  the  subject  of  an  elaborate  monograph, 
now  in  the  course  of  preparation.  Some  account  of  them  is  contained  in  the 
second  volume  of  Benndorf’s  Siidwestliche  Kleinasien ,  by  Petersen  (Eugen)  and 
Luschan  (Felix  von),  Reisen  in  Lykien,  Milyas  und  Kibyratis ,  Wien,  1889. 

u  Hittorff,  Architecture  antique  de  la  Sidle ,  plate  36  of  the  original  publi¬ 
cation,  plate  41  of  the  new  edition.  Compare  the  discussion  as  to  the  age  of 
this  building  given  in  Benndorf  (Otto),  Die  Metopen  von  Selinunt,  nut  Unter- 
suchungen  iiber  die  Geschichte,  die  Topographic  und  die  Tempel  von  Selinunt, 
Berlin,  1873. 


20 


3°6 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


In  a  former  chapter,  treating  of  the  design  of  the  coffered 
ceiling  of  the  temple  of  Assos,  stress  was  laid  upon  the  fact 
that  the  proportions  of  panelling  and  beams  must  have  been 
determined  before  the  plan  of  the  peripteros  could  have  been 
laid  out.  This  plan,  like  the  ceiling  upon  which  it  depended, 
may  now,  in  comparison  with  the  corresponding  features  of 
the  Theseion,  be  clearly  seen  to  be  a  simplification,  and  not 
a  prototype.  The  relative  ages  of  buildings  so  closely  allied 
in  point  of  design  cannot  be  a  matter  of  doubt  to  the  student 
of  architecture. 

Apart  from  the  arguments  which  may  be  derived  from 
parallels  such  as  these,  we  have  inherent  in  the  temple  of 
Assos  itself  indubitable  indications  of  its  eclectic  character. 
With  features  of  the  most  rude  and  helpless  archaism  it  com¬ 
bines  a  highly  organic  and  perfected  disposition  of  plan.  By 
an  attentive  consideration  of  the  details  of  the  elevation,  we 
may  clearly  distinguish  where  the  builder  neglected  to  follow 
his  model,  and,  from  motives  of  economy,  or  from  the  require¬ 
ments  of  the  material  in  which  he  worked,  fell  back  upon  his 
own  conventional  methods  and  mediocre  powers  of  design. 
Hence  arose  that  inequality  of  architectural  expression  which 
may  well  be  compared  to  the  provincial  dialect  of  a  highly 
cultivated  speech  :  that  curious  compound  of  good  and  bad, 
of  antiquated  and  perfected,  which  has  been  noticed  in  a 
foregoing  chapter. 

In  European  Greece  the  contemporary  development  of  the 
hexastyle  Doric  peripteros  can  be  traced  in  a  fourth  example, 
the  later  temple  of  Sounion  (Figure  82 ).1  The  plan  of  this 
building,  like  that  of  the  temple  of  Assos,  was  directly  in¬ 
fluenced  by  the  design  of  the  Theseion,  but  its  independent 
features,  instead  of  reverting  to  the  practices  of  the  archaic 
style,  still  further  pursued  that  course  of  development  in 

1  Dorpfeld,  Der  Tempel  von  Simion,  quoted  in  a  previous  note,  page  300. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


307 


which  the  Aiginetan  and  Attic  prototypes  had  made  so  suc¬ 
cessful  an  advance.  The  organic  connection  between  the 
supports  of  the  peripteros  and  those  of  the  pronaos  is  here 
extended  to  the  columns  in  antis  upon  the  back  of  the  cella, 
the  vestibule  before  the  epinaos  becoming  equal  in  size  and 
importance  to  that  before  the  pronaos.  The  two  fronts  were 
thus  exactly  alike.  This  was  a  disadvantage  in  aesthetic 
respects,  inasmuch  as  it  detracted  from  the  pre-eminence 
of  the  main  portal  of  the  sacred  naos,  and  deprived  the  tem¬ 
ple  of  the  only  outward  feature  which  had  served  to  indicate 
its  true  orientation.  The  change  was  nevertheless  in  keep¬ 
ing  with  the  formal  tendencies  of  the  age,  and  may  be  taken 
as  an  evidence  that  the  designer  was  bent  upon  effecting 
original  improvements  in  consonance  therewith.  It  betrays, 
perhaps,  the  first  taint  of  that  academic  formalism  in  mat¬ 
ters  of  architectural  design  which  was  destined  so  to  debase 
the  Doric  style  during  the  following  centuries.  Evidently 
aware  of  the  ambiguous  duplication  which  his  change  had 
involved,  the  architect  of  the  later  temple  of  Sounion  dis¬ 
tinguished  his  eastern  vestibule  by  a  sculptured  frieze,  the 
slabs  of  which  are  shown  in  solid  black  upon  the  plan  (Fig¬ 
ure  82).  This  wealth  of  detail,  invisible  from  without,  could 
not,  however,  relieve  the  general  composition  from  its  bi- 
frontal  character,  and  is  noteworthy  in  the  present  connec¬ 
tion  chiefly  as  a  proof  that  the  disadvantages  attendant 
upon  the  adherence  to  the  system  were  in  some  measure 
recognized  at  the  time.  The  ends  which  the  designer  had 
in  view  were,  at  all  events,  fully  attained ;  his  changes 
brought  the  main  lines  of  cella  and  peripteros  into  the 
most  intimate  connection,  and  resulted  in  absolute  unity  of 
plan. 

Purposes  of  comparison  do  not  render  it  necessary  for  us 
to  trace  the  subsequent  development  of  the  Doric  temple; 


3°8 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


suffice  it  to  note  that  the  next  stage  of  advance,  appearing  at 
about  this  same  date  in  both  the  Parthenon  and  the  temple 
of  Bassse,  and  hence  undoubtedly  to  be  ascribed  to  the  genius 
of  Iktinos,  was  the  entire  omission  of  transverse  supporting 
beams  in  the  pteroma  ceiling,  the  coffered  slabs  of  which  were 
made  to  extend  from  wall  to  entablature.  A  lighter  and 
more  airy  effect  was  hereby  attained.  That  the  builders  of 
the  temple  of  Assos  were  acquainted  with  this  simplification 
appears  improbable,  inasmuch  as  the  narrow  span  of  their 
pteroma  ceilings,  and  the  readiness  with  which  slabs  of 
trachyte  of  the  requisite  dimensions  were  obtainable,  would 
doubtless  have  induced  them  to  take  advantage  of  so  eco¬ 
nomical  a  method  of  construction. 

The  four  hexastyle  Doric  temples,  so  closely  related  in 
point  of  date,  dimensions,  and  style,  are  shown  by  Figures  79 
to  82  in  plans  drawn  to  the  same  scale.  In  each  of  these 
structures  the  dependence  upon  those  preceding  is  clearly 
apparent.  No  mere  coincidence  can  be  held  to  account  for 
resemblances  so  striking,  or  for  dimensions  so  uniform.  Were 
the  arrangement  of  the  cella  in  the  older  temple  of  Sounion 
evident  from  the  ruins,  we  should  doubtless  be  in  possession 
of  a  fifth  plan  of  this  class,  which  would  have  ranked  as  the 
most  primitive  in  point  of  development. 

The  actual  measurements  of  these  edifices,  to  the  close 
agreement  of  which  attention  has  not  hitherto  been  drawn,1 
may  be  tabulated  in  the  following  form. 

1  The  similarity  of  the  dimensions  of  the  temple  of  Aigina  and  the  Theseion 
is  referred  to,  in  a  general  way,  by  Cockerell  (Charles  Robert),  The  Temple  of 
Jupiter  Panhellenius  at  Aegma,  London,  i860. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


309 


Older  Tem¬ 
ple  of 
Sounion.1 

Temple 

of 

Aigina.4 

Theseion, 

Athens.6 

Temple 

of 

Assos. 

Later 
Temple  of 
Sunion.2 

Width  of  Cella3 

m. 

abt.  8.00 

m. 

(M.)  8.054 
(C.)  8.115 
(D.)  8.006 

m. 

(S.)  7-93 
(B.)  7-93 

m. 

7 '97 

m. 

8.13 

Length  of  Cella3 

abt.  22.50 

(M.)  22.628 
(C.)  22.536 
(D.)  22.555 

(S.)  22.38 
(B.)  22.25 

22.33 

20.78 

Width  of  Stylobate 

13- 12 

(M.)  13.820 

(C.)  13.714 

(S.)  1379 

(B.)  13  82 
(P.)  13.72 

1403 

13.48 

Length  of  Stylobate 

3°-34 

(M.)  28.790 
(C.)  28.660 

(s.)  31.77 
(B.)  31.77 

(P.)  31.76 

30,3X 

3I-I5 

1  According  to  the  measurements  and  estimates  of  Dorpfeld,  published  in  the 
essay  before  quoted. 

2  According  to  the  accurate  measurements  of  Dorpfeld.  The  figures  in¬ 
scribed  upon  the  plan  of  Blouet  are  so  incorrect  as  to  be  useless  in  this 

parallel. 

3  The  dimensions  here  given  are  those  of  the  cella  walls,  exclusive  of  the 

projections  of  base  and  capital  mouldings. 

i  The  dimensions  of  the  temple  of  Aigina  appearing  in  this  table  are  taken 
from  Blouet’s  Expedition  de  Moree  (plate  48),  and  from  the  work  of  Cockerell 
quoted  in  the  note  on  the  preceding  page  (plate  3),  and  from  the  Antiquities  of 
Ionia ,  published  by  the  Society  of  Dilettanti,  vol.  ii.,  London,  1797  (plate  3),  the 
given  measurements  in  English  feet,  inches,  and  hundredths  of  inches  being  re¬ 
duced  to  meters.  These  authorities  are  designated,  in  the  order  mentioned,  by 

the  letters  M,  C,  and  D.  ...... 

Cockerell’s  plan  displays  a  slight  discrepancy,  amounting  to  half  an  inch. 

The  corner  columns  of  the  fa$ades,  namely,  are  marked  as  41'  S"  distant  from 
centre  to  centre,  and  as  standing  7'  4*"  from  the  face  of  the  cella  wall,  exclusive 
of  plinth  moulding.  This  makes  the  width  of  the  cella  26'  7i"-  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  width  of  the  interior  of  the  naos  is  marked  as  21  3I  ,  and  the 
thickness  of  the  walls,  exclusive  of  mouldings,  as  2'  8£",  which  would  make 
the  width  of  the  cella  equal  to  26’  8".  In  one  case  we  have  a  width  of  8.1153, 

and  in  the  other  8.128  m.  for  this  dimension. 

In  the  plan  given  in  the  Antiquities  of  Ionia  the  figures  marked  in  the  second 
intercolumniation  of  the  eastern  fa?ade,  from  the  north,  namely,  8'  7"-55<  are 

obviously  intended  for  8'  7"45>  as  the  amount  of  the  total  fhows-  .  . 

5  The  dimensions  of  the  Theseion  appearing  in  this  table  are  taken  from 

Stuart  and  Revett,  Antiquities  of  Athens ,  London,  1762-1816,  vol.  iii.  (plate  2), 


3io 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


The  striking  similarity  of  the  cellas,  both  in  length  and 
width,  is  deserving  of  particular  notice.  The  later  temple 
of  Sounion  presents  the  only  instance  of  an  appreciable  di¬ 
vergence  in  this  respect,  and  in  this  instance  constructive 
considerations  can  be  proved  to  have  been  directly  responsi¬ 
ble  for  the  departure  from  the  normal  size.  The  steps  of  the 
later  temple  were  laid,  it  has  been  found,  directly  upon  those 
of  the  older  edifice  which  had  been  demolished  by  the  Per¬ 
sians, —  length  and  width  of  the  new  stylobate  being  thus  de¬ 
termined  by  an  adventitious  and  unalterable  gauge.  While 
in  the  other  temples  of  this  category  the  cella  extended  con¬ 
siderably  beyond  the  third  pteroma  columns  from  the  west,  it 
had  at  Sounion  to  be  brought  back  into  line  with  these  shafts 
for  the  purpose  of  introducing  a  connecting  epistyle  beam  be¬ 
tween  the  supports  of  the  peripteros  and  those  of  the  epinaos. 
Hence  the  length  of  the  cella  became  at  Sounion  directly  de¬ 
pendent  upon  the  width  of  eight  lateral  intercolumniations, 
which  had  in  their  turn  been  determined  by  the  available 
extent  of  the  older  steps.  The  deviation  from  the  normal 
length  of  seventy  feet  is  thus  accounted  for.  The  limit  of 

from  Buhlmann  (Joseph),  Die  Architektur  des  classischen  Alter thums,  Stuttgart, 
1872  (plate  4),  and,  after  reducing  to  meters  the  given  dimensions  in  English 
feet,  from  Penrose,  An  Investigation  into  the  Principles  of  Athenian  Architecture, 
2d  ed.,  London,  1888.  These  authorities  are  designated,  in  the  order  mentioned, 
by  the  letters  S,  B,  and  P. 

In  the  measurements  of  the  cella  length  given  by  Buhlmann  there  is  con¬ 
siderable  discrepancy.  The  separate  dimensions  of  pronaos,  naos,  epinaos, 
and  walls  amount,  when  added  together,  to  but  22.077  m-,  while  the  length 
obtained  by  subtracting  the  width  of  the  pteromas,  front  and  rear,  from  the 
length  of  the  stylobate  is  22,56  m.  The  latter  result  is  obviously  the  more 
correct. 

The  dimensions  of  the  cella  of  the  Theseion  are  not  given  by  Penrose,  whose 
work  is  concerned  only  with  the  peripteros.  A  new  and  complete  publication  of 
this  important  monument  is  much  needed.  The  methods  of  architectural  re¬ 
seal  ch  have  fully  kept  pace  with  the  growth  of  scientific  investigations  in  other 
fields,  and  almost  all  those  surveys  and  restorations  which  antedate  the  middle 
of  the  present  century  may,  in  a  sense,  be  regarded  as  obsolete. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883.  3 1 1 

possible  compromise  had  here  been  attained.  The  more  the 
archaic  plan  had  been  altered  in  favor  of  an  organic  connec¬ 
tion  between  cella  and  peripteros,  the  more  had  the  cella  lost 
its  fundamental  and  independent  importance.  In  the  later 
temple  of  Sounion,  where  transverse  epistyles  connected 
both  pronaos  and  epinaos  with  the  outer  entablature,  its 
length  was  altogether  dependent  upon  that  of  the  stylobate. 
When  the  size  of  the  frame  is  taken  as  the  starting  point  of 
a  design,  the  size  and  proportions  of  the  picture  must,  of 
course,  conform  themselves  thereto. 

From  these  observations  we  may  conclude  that  the  archi¬ 
tects  of  the  temple  of  Aigina,  the  Theseion,  and  the  temple 
of  Assos  began  their  designs  with  a  definite  nucleus,  the 
cella,  the  measurements  of  which  were  fixed  by  some  hieratic 
statute,  concerning  which  we  have  no  direct  testimony.  The 
fundamental  importance  thus  assigned  to  this  portion  of  the 
building  is,  however,  entirely  in  accord  with  what  may  be 
ascertained  from  other  sources  concerning  the  conceptions 
of  the  Greeks  in  respect  to  the  ideal  character  of  the  temple. 
The  naos  alone  corresponded  to  the  holy  of  holies  of  the 
Jewish  sanctuary.  The  oblong  cella,  with  its  columns  in 
antis,  had  originally  formed  the  entire  fane.  The  colonnades 
of  the  peripteros  did  but  provide  a  canopy-like  roof  for  the 
protection  and  embellishment  of  this  house  of  the  deity, 
emphasizing  its  dignity  and  sacred  character  by  that  “  most 
ancient  symbol  of  terrestrial  and  celestial  authority.”  1  This 

i  Semper,  Der  Stil,  2e  Auf.,  ii.  389 :  “  Die  Idee,  der  nackten,  raumlich  klei- 
nen,  Cella  die  ihr  fehlende  Autoritat  zu  verschaffen,  fiihrte  darauf,  fiir  sie  einen 
Tempel  zu  bauen,  d.  h.,  einen  geweiheten  und  bedeckten  viereckigen  Bezirlc 
(Temenos),  dessen  Saulendach  die  Cella  (welcheihre  voile  alte  Heiligkeit  behalt) 
nicht  ersetzt,  sondern  nur  bestimmt  ist  aufzunehmen,  auch  instruktiver  Beziebung 
vollst'andig  von  ihr  unabhangig  ist,  wie  das  Sanctuarium  von  dem  agyptischen 
Sekos  oder  das  jiidische  Tempelhaus  von  der  Bundeslade.  Eine  monumentale 
Kapsel  fiir  das  Heiligthum, — aber  eine  offene  Kapsel,  die  das  Allerheiligste, 
oder  vielmehr  dessen  nachste  Hiille,  die  Cella,  nicht  verbirgt,  wie  der  agyptisch- 


3 12 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


attractive  suggestion  of  the  greatest  modern  investigator  into 
the  origin  and  principles  of  architectural  style  may  be  said  to 
have  received  direct  and  final  proof  from  the  present  investi¬ 
gations,  and  more  especially  from  our  recognition  of  the  fact 
that  the  design  of  these  temples  under  discussion  had  been 
crystallized,  so  to  speak,  around  a  cella  of  given  form  and 
dimensions. 

A  further  indication  of  the  fact  that  the  ancients  them¬ 
selves  attached  chief  importance  in  this  matter  of  dimen¬ 
sions  to  the  cella,  and  not  to  the  stylobate,  is  to  be  found  in 
the  application  of  the  epithet  “  hundred-footed  ”  to  the  Par¬ 
thenon,  the  term  “  hekatompedon  ”  designating,  not,  as  was  so 
long  believed,  the  upper  step  of  the  facade,  which  very  nearly 
corresponded  to  this  length,  and  might  readily  have  been  ac¬ 
curately  adapted  thereto,  but  the  length  of  the  naos.1  The 
most  carefully  elaborated  fane  of  Greek  antiquity  may  thus 
be  cited  as  a  parallel  instance  pointing  to  the  correctness  of 
our  assumption. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  enter  into  an  adequate  discussion 
of  the  bearing  which  the  facts  thus  elicited  may  have  upon 

judische  Tempel  es  thut,  sondern  sichtbar  lasst,  indem  sie  ihm  Schutz  gewahrt, 
vor  allem  aber  seine  Autoritat  raumlich  und  zugleich  symbolisch  hervorhebt  und 
vermehrt ;  —  ein  machtig  monumentales  Schirmdach  (Baldachin)  als  uraltestes 
Symbol  irdischer  und  himmlischer  Macht  und  Hoheit.” 

Admiration  for  the  insight  into  the  principles  of  architectural  growth  which 
is  evinced  by  such  passages  as  this  does  not,  of  course,  commit  us  to  any 
acceptance  of  Semper’s  untrue  and  contradictory  theory  that  the  Doric  peripteros 
was  originally  developed  as  a  pseudodipteros,  any  more  than  admiration  of  the 
contents  of  Semper’s  book  commits  us  to  approval  of  his  literary  style. 

The  belief  that  the  upper  step  of  the  Parthenon  displays  the  exact  length  of 
one  hundred  Attic  feet  has  been  current,  and  almost  universally  adopted,  since 
the  time  of  Stuart  and  Revett.  The  error  of  this  assumption  has  been  made 
clear  by  Ddrpfeld,  Untersuchungen  am  Parthenon ,  Mittheilungen  des  dentschen 
archaologischen  Institute,  vol.  vi.,  Athen,  1881  ;  Beit  rage  zur  antiken  Metrologie, 
Mittheilungen,  vol.  vii.,  1882;  and  Fussmaasse  griechischer  Tempel,  Archdologische 
Zeitung,  vol.  xxxix,  Berlin,  1S81.  The  phraseology  of  the  well  known  Parthenon 
inscription  is  such  as  to  leave  no  doubt  upon  this  point. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS ,  1883. 


313 


the  earlier  history  of  the  Doric  style.  It  must  suffice  to 
point  out  that  they  afford  direct  and  trustworthy  evidence 
concerning  the  derivation  of  the  Greek  peripteros,  tending  to 
strengthen  our  belief  in  the  development  of  the  Doric  entab¬ 
lature  upon  a  wall,  and  not  upon  free-standing  supports,  — 
from  a  wooden  rather  than  from  a  stone  prototype,  —  while 
it  altogether  controverts  a  host  of  artificial  modern  theories 
concerning  systems  of  arithmetic  and  geometric  proportions 
alleged  to  have  been  followed  by  the  ancients  in  the  design 
of  their  temples. 

The  four  edifices  which  have  been  illustrated  in  Figures  79 
to  82  display  a  development  of  plan  far  more  regular  than 
that,  for  instance,  of  the  systems  of  the  similarly  related 
cathedrals  of  Mayence,  Speyer,  and  Worms,  or  of  the  ca¬ 
thedral  of  Amiens,  the  cathedral  of  Seez,  and  the  church  of 
St.  Ouen  at  Rouen,  inasmuch  as  the  development  of  the 
Doric  style  during  the  fifth  century  before  Christ  was  the 
result  of  a  more  intimate  connection,  and  was  marked  by 
greater  regularity  and  unity,  than  that  of  the  Romanic  or  the 
Gothic  style  at  any  period  of  the  Middle  Ages.  To  speak 
of  the  temple  of  Assos  as  a  link  in  the  chain  of  Doric  de¬ 
velopment  would  be  to  employ  a  metaphor  not  altogether 
applicable,  for  while  it  was  directly  dependent,  in  its  most 
essential  features,  upon  the  design  of  other  monuments,  it 
was  not  a  creation  in  which  any  generally  recognized  advance 
was  effected,  or  from  which  the  forms  of  any  subsequent 
works  were  derived.  Hence,  if  the  simile  be  permissible,  it 
may  be  likened  rather  to  a  childless  uncle  than  to  a  direct 
ancestor  of  the  Doric  temples  of  later  generations.  Its  pecu¬ 
liarities  found  no  imitators.  This  isolation,  albeit  limiting 
the  scope  of  our  conclusions  in  one  direction,  by  no  means 
detracts  from  the  value  of  the  historical  argument  for  the 
present  purpose.  The  marked  dependence  of  the  design  upon 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


3*4 

other  works  affords  a  perfect  terminus  post ,  though  its  isola¬ 
tion  restricts  the  terminus  ante  quern. 

What,  then,  is  the  positive  outcome  of  the  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  the  design  of  the  temple  of  Assos  was  subse¬ 
quent  to  that  of  the  temple  of  Aigina  and  that  of  the 
Theseion,  and  doubtless  contemporary  with  the  rebuilding  of 
the  temple  of  Sounion  ?  To  what  date  are  these  edifices 
themselves  to  be  assigned  ? 

With  regard  to  the  temple  of  Aigina  we  may  feel  reasona¬ 
bly  certain  that  its  construction  is  to  be  referred  to  the 
comparatively  short  interval  which  elapsed  between  the  de¬ 
feat  of  the  Persians  at  Salamis,  in  480  b.  c.,  and  the  subjuga¬ 
tion  of  Aigina  by  the  Athenians,  which  began  twenty  years 
later.  It  is  hardly  to  be  assumed  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
island  could,  after  the  severe  losses  which  they  sustained  in 
their  naval  encounters  with  the  Athenians  at  this  period,  and 
especially  after  the  siege  of  their  chief  city,1  have  devoted  the 
very  considerable  amount  of  time  and  money  which  were 
required  for  the  construction  of  an  edifice  such  as  this.  The 
surrender  of  the  island,  and  the  entire  loss  of  the  indepen¬ 
dence  of  its  inhabitants,  took  place  four  years  after  the  open¬ 
ing  of  hostilities,  in  456.2  Few  modern  archaeologists  admit 
the  assumption  of  Stackelberg,3  repeated  by  Curtius,4  which 
identifies  the  ruins  of  the  Doric  edifice  in  question  as  those 
of  a  certain  temple  of  Athena  which  Herodotos  5  mentions  as 
having  been  built  by  the  Aiginetans  after  their  triumph  over 
a  band  of  Samian  pirates,  in  520  or  519  b.  c.  Still  less  ac¬ 
ceptable  is  the  argument  adduced  by  Smith  6  to  prove  that  this 

1  Thucydides,  I.  105.  2  Ibid.,  I.  108. 

3  Stackelberg  (Otto  Magnus  von),  Der  Apollotempel  zu  Bassae,  Frankfurt  am 
Main,  1826,  Beilage  III.,  Das  Pankellenium  auf  A egina. 

4  Curtius  (Ernst),  Grieckiscke  Geschichte,  ed.  3,  Berlin,  1868-74,  Book  III.,  1. 

6  Herodotos,  III.  59. 

6  Smith  (William),  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Geography ,  London,  1873, 
s.  v.  Aegina. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


3*5 


temple  was  built  before  563  b.  c.  ;  namely,  that  the  Aiginetans 
had,  previous  to  this  date,  erected  at  Naukratis  a  temple  to 
Zeus,  assumed,  altogether  without  grounds,  to  have  been  an 
imitation  of  this  particular  fane  of  their  own  island.  Since 
the  publication  of  Brunn’s  suggestive  essay  on  the  age  of  the 
Aiginetan  sculptures,1  in  which  these  works  are  shown  to  be 
of  later  date  than  the  battle  of  Salamis,  the  opinion  of  scholars 
has  been  in  practical  unanimity,  and  it  is  rare  that  the  pos¬ 
sibility  of  an  earlier  origin 2  is  admitted.  Overbeck 3  even 
names  a  precise  date,  Olympiad  76.4  to  77.1  or  77.2,  —  473 
to  471  b.  c.,  —  which  would  be  as  difficult  to  disprove  as  to 
verify. 

That  the  building  of  the  Theseion  took  place  after  the  fourth 
invasion  of  Greece  by  the  Persians,  479  b.  c.,  is  likewise  beyond 
question.  Its  exact  age  is,  however,  still  a  disputed  point. 
This  temple,  —  the  best  preserved  monument  of  classical  an¬ 
tiquity,  not  only  in  Athens,  but  in  all  Hellenic  lands,  —  still 
presents  itself  to  us  as  a  nameless  stranger  in  a  city  where 

1  Brunn  (Heinrich),  Ueber  das  Alter  der  agmetischen  Kunstwerke.  Sitzungs- 

berichte  der  koniglich  bayrischen  Akademie  der  Wissenschaften.  Miinchen,  1867, 
Heft  4.  ^ 

2  Prior  to  the  appearance  of  the  essay  quoted  in  the  preceding  note,  an  ex¬ 
treme  antiquity  was  often  attributed  to  the  temple  of  Aigina.  Thus,  Ross  (Lud¬ 
wig),  Reisen  des  Konigs  Otto  und  der  Konigin  Amalia  in  Griechenland,  Halle, 
1848,  vol.  i.,  and  Brondsted  (Peter  Olaf),  Die  Brojizen  von  Siris,  Kopenhagen, 
1837,  thought  the  building  to  be  more  ancient  than  the  time  of  Peisandros  and 
the  thirtieth  Olympiad  (660  B.  C.).  Among  those  writers  who,  since  the  publi¬ 
cation  of  Brunn’s  paper,  have  had  occasion  to  refer  to  the  age  of  the  temple  of 
Aigina,  Murray,  History  of  Greek  Sculpture ,  has  been  almost  alone  in  even  ad 
mitting  the  possibility  that  the  gable  sculptures  are  as  ancient  as  485  or  480  B.  c., 
and  may  thus  antedate  the  battle  of  Salamis. 

An  excellent  risumi  of  the  arguments  which  have  been  brought  forward  in 
regard  to  the  age  of  this  building  is  to  be  found  in  Overbeck’s  Geschichte  der 
griechischen  Plastik,  3d  ed.,  Leipzig,  1881-83. 

3  Compare  the  work  quoted  in  the  preceding  note.  Overbeck  had,  in  a 
previous  essay,  Ueber  das  Datum  der  dginetischen  Giebelgruppen ,  ( Zeitschrift  fur 
A Iterthumswissenschaft,  Giessen,  1856,  No.  51,)  assigned  the  completion  of  the 
temple  of  Aigina  to  Olympiad  64.2  (523  b.  c.). 


3*6 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


every  other  nook  and  corner  is  known  by  its  ancient  epithet. 
After  having  been  assigned  successively  to  Theseus,  Ares, 
Apollo,  Hephaistos,  Herakles,  as  well  as  to  Herakles  and 
Theseus  and  to  Hephaistos  and  Athena  in  joint  proprietor¬ 
ship,  it  has  lately  been  restored  to  the  hero  by  whose  name  it 
is  generally  called.1  Were  it  indeed  definitely  identifiable  with 
that  fane,  which  is  known  to  have  been  erected  after  the 
removal  of  the  relics  of  Theseus  from  Skyros  to  Athens  by 
Kimon,  we  should  have  a  fixed  date,  469  b.  c.,  for  the  founda¬ 
tion  of  the  edifice.2  The  opinion  of  the  best  judges  of  style 
agrees,  however,  in  referring  its  construction  to  a  somewhat 
later  period,  little  if  at  all  anterior  to  the  erection  of  the 
Parthenon.  Michaelis 3  speaks  of  the  building  of  the  two 
great  Doric  monuments  of  Athens  as  contemporary.  Adler4 
believes  that  work  upon  the  Theseion  was  carried  on  from 
468  to  440,  or  even  429  b.  c.  Gurlitt5  concludes  a  long  and 
detailed  examination  into  the  subject  with  the  conviction  that 
the  construction  extended  from  450  to  440  b.  c.  Certain  of 
Gurlitt’s  arguments  have  been  traversed  by  Julius,6  who  as¬ 
serts  the  architectural  forms  and  sculptured  decorations  of 
the  Theseion  to  be  more  ancient  than  those  of  the  Parthenon  ; 

1  For  a  review  of  the  various  identifications  of  the  Theseion,  compare  the 
work  of  Gurlitt,  quoted  below,  note  5.  Gurlitt  himself  assigns  the  temple  to 
Theseus,  and  Hultsch  (Friedrich)  — Bestimmung  des  attiscken  Fusses  nach  dem 
Parthenon  und  Theseion,  Archdologische  Zeitung,  vol.  xxxviii.,  Berlin,  1881  — re¬ 
fers  to  this  point  as  definitely  settled.  Dorpfeld,  in  the  work  of  Miss  Harrison 
quoted  in  note  1,  page  317,  identifies  the  Theseion  as  the  Athenian  temple  of 
Hephaistos. 

2  Plutarch,  Theseus ,  XXXVI.,  and  Kimon ,  VIII. 

8  Michaelis  (Adolph  Theodor  Friedrich),  Der  Parthenon,  Leipzig,  1871. 

4  Adler  (Friedrich),  Untersuchung  am  Theseustempel zu  Athen ,  reported  in  the 

Chronik  der  Winckelmannsfeste,  Archdologische  Zeitung,  1873. 

6  Gurlitt  (Wilhelm),  Das  Alter  der  Bildwerke  und  die  Bauzeit  des  sogenannten 
Theseion  in  Athen,  Wien,  1875. 

6  Julius  (Leopold),  Le  Metope  del  Tempiodi  Teseo  in  Atene ,  Annali  del!  Insti- 
tuto  di  Corrispondenza  Archeologica,  vol.  1.,  Roma,  1878. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


317 


but  Dorpfeld1  has,  on  the  other  hand,  thrown  the  great 
weight  of  his  authority  in  favor  of  a  subsequent  date.  It  will 
be  borne  in  mind,  that  the  Parthenon,  as  we  now  know  it,  was 
begun  about  the  year  447  b.  c.2  A  favorite  assumption  with 
those  scholars  who  have  been  unwilling  to  adopt  so  late  an 
age  for  a  Doric  temple  which  undeniably  displays  a  tentative 
and  experimental  character  in  certain  architectural  details, 
has  been  that  the  sculptures  of  the  Theseion  were  executed 
at  a  period  subsequent  to  the  completion  of  the  edifice.  This 
is  clearly  inadmissible,  for  the  sculptured  frieze  of  the  pronaos 
may  be  seen  to  be  in  bond  with  the  constructive  members  of 
the  entablature.  We  must,  in  like  manner,  exclude  the  chief 
argument  which  was  advanced  by  Ross  3  to  serve  as  a  proof 
that  the  temple  antedated  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century  ; 
namely,  the  appearance,  upon  the  coffered  ceiling  beams,  of 
masons’  marks  having  forms  of  Greek  letters  which  after  the 
eightieth  Olympiad  were  no  longer  employed  in  inscriptions. 
It  is  futile  to  put  this  argument  aside,  —  as  has  been  at¬ 
tempted  by  Miss  Harrison,4  —  by  a  resort  to  the  groundless 
and  improbable  assumption  that  the  beams  thus  marked  once 
formed  a  part  of  some  more  ancient  edifice,  the  materials  of 
which,  after  its  demolition,  were  employed  again  in  the  con- 


1  Dorpfeld’s  opinion  upon  this  subject  has  been  published  by  Harrison 
(Jane  E.),  Mythology  and  Monuments  of  Ancient  Athens,  London,  1890. 

2  The  last  and  best  review  of  the  data  which  we  possess  concerning  the  age 
of  the  Parthenon  has  been  given  by  Koepp  (Friedrich),  Die  Herstellung  der 
Tempel  nach  den  Perserkriegen, Jahrbuch  des  preussischen  archdologischen  Insti¬ 
tute,  vol.  v.,  Berlin,  1890,  Heft  4. 

8  Ross  (Ludwig),  T6  Qtjcthou  kclI  6  Naos  tov  *Apevs,  ev  ’kOfyais,  1838.  Re¬ 
published,  with  additions,  in  a  German  form  :  Das  Theseion  und  der  Tempel  des 
Ares  in  Athen,  Halle,  1852.  Certain  masons’  marks  which  had  been  overlooked 
by  Ross  are  given  by  Gurlitt,  in  the  work  quoted  above.  Ross  concluded  from 
the  forms  of  these  letters  that  the  temple  could  not  be,  in  any  event,  more 
recent  than  Olympiad  80  (460  b.  c.). 

4  In  the  work  quoted  in  the  preceding  note. 


3 1 8  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 

struction  of  the  Theseion.  The  position  in  which  the  letters 
in  question  appear  upon  the  stones  is  such  as  to  make  it  evi¬ 
dent  that  they  were  cut  during  the  erection  of  this  very 
building.  The  true  explanation  doubtless  is  that  masons’ 
marks  such  as  these  were  retained  by  workmen  from  the 
time  of  their  first  apprenticeship  to  their  craft,  and  pos¬ 
sibly  even  handed  down  from  father  to  son,  thus  naturally 
preserving  the  palaeographical  characteristics  of  a  some¬ 
what  earlier  age.1  A  parallel  instance  of  the  employment  of 
obsolete  letters  of  the  Greek  alphabet  as  masons’  marks  late 
in  the  Pergamene  period  is  to  be  found  in  the  market-place 
of  Assos,  and  will  be  discussed  in  a  future  chapter  of  this 
book. 

If,  then,  it  be  susceptible  of  proof  that  the  building  of  the 
temple  of  Aigina  took  place  in  the  first  or  second,  and  that 
of  the  Theseion  not  earlier  than  the  third  decade  succeeding; 
the  final  repulse  of  the  Persians  from  European  Greece,  it 
follows  that  the  temple  of  Assos  was  not  much,  if  at  all,  an¬ 
terior  to  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century  before  Christ.  As 
will  be  demonstrated,  there  is  nothing  in  the  sculptured 
decorations  of  the  temple  to  contradict  this  view,  and  much 
to  support  it,  while  the  political  history  of  the  town  shows 
that  during  the  forty-four  years  intervening  between  the 
two  subjugations  of  the  Troad  by  the  Persians  the  citizens  of 
Assos  were  at  the  height  of  their  power  and  independence. 
The  invading  barbarians  led  by  Xerxes  showed  little  respect 
for  the  national  sanctuaries  of  the  Hellenes.  Where,  in  all 

1  Specimens  of  writing  from  right  to  left  also  occur  among  the  masons’  marks 
upon  the  stones  of  the  same  building ;  yet  inscriptions  of  this  character  were 
considered  by  Herodotos  (II.  36)  to  be  barbarous.  It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind,  in 
this  connection,  that  Onatas,  supposed  to  be  the  sculptor  of  the  Aiginetan  gable 
groups,  wrote  from  right  to  left  in  the  same  manner.  Compare  Pausanias, 
V.  25.  9. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


319 


the  Greek  lands  overrun  by  these  hosts,  is  any  Greek  temple 
known  to  have  stood  the  conquest  uninjured?  Yet  the 
temple  of  Assos,  as  we  know  it,  can  be  proved  to  have 
remained  intact  until  the  advent  of  the  Christian  era. 

Before  turning  from  the  architectural  features  of  the  build¬ 
ing  to  its  sculptures,  it  will  be  of  interest  to  trace,  in  the  light 
obtained  by  the  foregoing  analysis,  the  method  of  laying  out 
the  plan  which  must  have  been  adopted  by  the  provincial 
designer,  and  to  seek,  in  connection  therewith,  for  an  ex¬ 
planation  of  the  archaic  and  peculiar  features  which  appear 
in  the  constructive  framework,  as  well  as  in  the  decorative 
details  of  the  edifice.  It  is  now  possible  for  us  to  follow, 
step  by  step,  the  evolution  of  the  plan  and  dimensions  of 
•the  temple  of  Assos,  even  as  it  was  inscribed,  some  twenty- 
three  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  upon  the  abakos  of  the 
provincial  designer. 

The  chief  features  of  the  calculation  involved  are  diagram- 
matically  set  forth  in  Figure  83.  The  architect  began  by 
laying  out  an  oblong  cella,  having  the  exact  dimensions 
noted  upon  some  tracing  of  the  plan  of  the  Theseion  which 
had  been  procured  as  a  pattern.  These  dimensions  we  find 
to  equal  in  length  at  A  exactly  70,  and  in  width  at  B  ex¬ 
actly  25  Assian  feet.1  Around  this  cella  was  drawn  the 
plan  of  the  peripteros,  the  determination  of  the  width  of 
the  pteroma  being  the  next  step.  Early  in  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  hexastyle  Doric  temple,  the  eye  of  the  Greek 
architect  had  perceived  that  the  best  proportions  of  the 
lateral  colonnades  were  secured  when  the  two  outermost 
columns  of  the  facade  framed  the  vista  obtained  in  looking 

1  The  grounds  upon  which  this  assertion  relative  to  the  number  of  Assian 
feet  embodied  in  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  cella  are  based,  will  be  set  forth 
in  full  detail  in  the  succeeding  pages. 


H  =  44' 


i 

\ 


t 


‘S 

ir 

O 


Fig.  83.  Diagrammatic  Plan  and  Dimensions  of  the  Temple 

of  Assos. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


32 1 


along  the  side  wall  of  the  cella,  thus  displaying  but  one 
intercolumniation  of  the  distant  front,  and  not  permitting 
the  inner  side  of  the  aperture  to  be  outlined  against  the 
bright  sky  by  the  vertical  line  of  the  cella  corner  or  anta. 
In  the  temple  of  Aigina  and  in  the  Theseion  the  desired 
effect  had  been  obtained  by  placing  the  second  and  fifth 
columns  of  the  facades  exactly  in  line  with  the  outer  face 
of  the  cella  wall.  This  method  was  followed  by  the  Assian 
designer.  The  three  intercolumniations  between  the  axes 
of  the  second  and  fifth  columns  of  the  faQades,  C,  C2,  and 
C3,  thus  determined,  were  consequently  equal  to  the  width 
of  the  cella,  or  twenty-five  feet.  The  width  of  the  adjoin¬ 
ing  corner  intercolumniations,  D,  which  were,  for  static  and 
aesthetic  reasons,  to  be  made  somewhat  narrower  than  those 
adjoining,  naturally  became  eight  feet  from  axis  to  axis.  It 
is  apparent,  however,  that  the  employment  of  round  num¬ 
bers  was  here  somewhat  disadvantageous,  inasmuch  as  the 
interval  between  the  outer  shafts  should  have  differed  in 
width  from  those  between  the  inner  by  more  than  one 
third  of  a  foot.  Both  in  respect  to  the  ideal  balance  of  the 
supports  and  the  equal  spacing  of  the  members  of  the  frieze, 
the  outermost  columns  thus  came  to  stand  too  far  apart. 

The  width  of  the  side  pteroma,  D,  from  the  axes  of  the 
columns  to  the  face  of  the  cella  wall,  being  thus  fixed  at 
eight  feet,  the  distance  between  the  corner  columns  of  the 
facades,  from  axis  to  axis,  E,  was  found  to  amount  to  forty- 
one  feet.  The  distance  from  the  axes  of  the  columns  of  the 
peripteros,  F,  was  next  fixed  at  one  foot  and  a  half,  or,  in 
other  words,  six  palms,  and  the  width  of  the  pteroma  pave¬ 
ment  from  the  rise  of  the  upper  step  to  the  face  of  the 
cella  wall,  G,  became  equal  to  nine  and  a  half  feet,  the 
total  width  of  the  stylobate  itself,  H,  becoming  equal  to 
forty-four  feet. 


* 


21 


322 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Before  setting  out  the  intercolumniations  of  the  sides,  the 
width  of  the  rear  pteroma —  if  so  we  may  term  the  space  be¬ 
tween  the  western  end  of  the  cella  and  the  columns  of  the 
western  facade  —  remained  to  be  determined.  Here  the 
Assian  architect  failed  to  profit  by  the  example  of  the  The- 
seion,  and  adopted  a  dimension  much  too  small.  Doubtless 
having  in  mind  the  difficulties  and  complications  presented 
by  a  coffered  ceiling  having  a  width  different  from  that  of 
the  lateral  pteroma,  and  possibly  aware  that  the  vestibule 
at  the  rear  of  the  temple  of  Aigina  did  not  exceed  the  side 
pteroma  in  width,  he  here  adopted  for  D'  precisely  the  same 
dimension  as  for  D,  namely  eight  feet.  The  want  of  a  suffi¬ 
cient  reveal  upon  the  rear  of  the  building  cannot  but  have 
been  apparent  to  the  observer  who  approached  the  Acropolis 
from  the  western  side,  for  the  bare  wall  at  the  back  of  the 

I 

cella  of  the  Assian  temple  formed  a  background  to  the  col¬ 
umns  of  the  western  facade  very  different  from  the  Aiginetan 
epinaos  with  its  deep  shadows.  The  entire  omission  of  col¬ 
umns  in  antis  at  the  rear  of  the  temple  of  Assos  was,  as  will 
presently  be  seen,  undoubtedly  due  to  hieratic  considerations 
peculiar  to  Asia  Minor;  but  this  defect  should  have  been 
concealed  as  much  as  possible  by  setting  the  columns  of 
the  peripteros  at  a  greater  distance  from  the  rear  than  from 
the  side  walls  of  the  cella. 

Inasmuch  as  the  second  columns  of  the  flanks  were  placed, 
for  the  purpose  of  receiving  the  transverse  epistyle  which 
connected  the  front  of  the  cella  with  the  outer  entablature, 
in  exact  line  with  those  of  the  pronaos,  and  consequently  at 
a  distance,  F",  of  one  foot  and  a  half  from  the  front  face  of 
the  antae,  and  inasmuch  as  the  axis  of  the  columns  of  the 
western  facade  was  eight  feet  from  the  rear  wall  of  the  cella, 
it  is  evident  that  the  ten  westernmost  intercolumniations  of 
the  sides  occupied  together  an  extent  of  seventy-six  and  a  half 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


323 


feet.  The  spaces  from  centre  to  centre  of  the  columns  from  K 
to  K10  were  naturally  determined  by  an  equal  division  of  this 
length,  and  the  second  columns  of  the  sides  from  the  west¬ 
ern  corners  thus  failed  to  come  in  a  line  with  the  outer  sur¬ 
face  of  the  rear  wall  of  the  cella  by  seven  twentieths  of  a 
foot,  or  more  than  one  palm.  This  affords  an  explanation 
of  an  irregularity  which  was  a  source  of  much  perplexity  to 
the  investigators  during  the  measurement  of  the  plan,  other¬ 
wise  so  regular.  The  width  of  the  two  succeeding  or  east¬ 
ernmost  intercolumniations  of  the  sides,  L  and  L2,  were  made 
of  the  nearest  possible  dimensions  to  the  others  which  could 
be  expressed  in  a  round  number  of  palms  ;  thus  becoming 
seven  and  three  quarters,  instead  of  seven  and  thirteen 
twentieths  feet  from  centre  to  centre.  Thus  the  width  of 
the  vestibule  before  the  cella,  from  the  front  face  of  the 
antae  to  the  axes  of  the  columns  of  the  eastern  facade,  at 
M,  became  exactly  fourteen  feet,  the  distance  between  the 
corner  columns  of  the  sides,  N,  being  ninety-two  feet  from 
axis  to  axis,  and  the  total  length  of  the  stylobate,  O,  ninety- 
five  feet. 

By  this  arrangement  it  was  brought  about  that  the  length 
of  the  stylobate  was  exactly  ten  times  the  width  of  the  pte- 
roma.  The  existence  and  intentional  character  of  this  pro¬ 
portion  was  recognized  during  the  investigations  of  the  first 
year,  and  the  dimensions  in  question  were  correctly  assumed 
to  embody  a  round  number  of  units  of  the  standard  em¬ 
ployed  by  the  ancient  architect  in  laying  out  the  measure¬ 
ments  of  the  edifice.  But  ignorance  of  the  facts  now  as¬ 
certained  rendered  it  then  impossible  to  determine  logically 
the  number  of  feet  or  palms  thus  embodied,  and  the  writer’s 
guess  that  the  dimensions  were  respectively  ten  and  one 
hundred  ancient  feet  was  quite  as  far  from  the  truth  as 


324 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


that  of  Bohn,  who  assumed  these  numbers  to  have  been 
nine  and  ninety.1 

The  further  steps  involved  in  the  calculation  of  the  plan 
by  the  ancient  architect,  the  chief  of  which  relate  to  the 
divisions  of  the  coffered  ceiling,  have  not  been  indicated 
in  Figure  83,  but  follow  in  direct  sequence  from  the  data 
already  obtained.  The  determination  of  the  sides  of  the 
square  coffers  and  stiles  was  dependent  upon  the  width  of 
the  pteroma  ceiling.  The  thickness  of  the  entablature  was 
fixed  at  two  feet  nine  dactyls,  this  dimension  perhaps  being 
chosen  so  as  to  make  up  the  length  of  the  corner  epistyle 
panels,  with  the  lap,  to  exactly  nine  feet  and  a  half.  Sub¬ 
tracting  from  the  distance  between  the  cella  wall  and  the 
axis  of  the  columns  (namely,  D,  or  eight  feet)  one  half  of 
the  thickness  of  the  entablature  plus  the  projection  of  the 
cyma  mouldings  which  crowned  both  wall  and  inner  entab¬ 
lature,  there  remains  a  clear  span  of  six  feet  six  dactyls.  In 
the  pteroma  ceiling  of  the  temple  of  Assos,  as  in  that  of 
the  Theseion,  this  space  was  divided  into  four  panels,  each  of 

1  It  was  remarked  in  the  Preliminary  Report,  that  “in  comparing  these  dimen¬ 
sions  with  the  intention  of  recognizing  the  unit  of  measure  employed  in  the 
building,  it  is  noticeable  that  the  width  of  the  side  and  rear  pteroma  is  as 
nearly  as  possible  one  tenth  of  the  length  of  the  stylobate.  This  relation  of 
the  most  important  divisions  of  the  plan  is  so  strikingly  exact  as  to  exclude  the 
assumption  of  a  coincidence.  It  is  hence  extremely  probable  that  a  system  of 
decimal  feet  was  employed,  or  that  3.0335  meters  contains  an  entire  number  of 
the  original  unit  of  measure.”  The  latter  alternative  is  now  proved  to  be  cor¬ 
rect,  the  former  erroneous. 

The  succeeding  paragraph  of  the  Preliminary  Report  contains  mere  ground¬ 
less  suppositions,  but,  inasmuch  as  they  are  referred  to  in  the  present  text  as 
the  evidence  of  an  accuracy  of  those  measurements  upon  which  the  identifica¬ 
tion  of  the  Assian  foot  is  founded,  they  must  be  quoted  in  like  manner:  “If 
the  plan  be  supposed  to  be  100  feet  long,  and  the  pteroma  10  feet,  a  foot  of 
°-3°335  meter  would  result.  ...  A  suggestion,  perhaps  more  plausible,  has 
been  made  by  my  friend  Richard  Bohn,  architect  of  the  excavations  at  Perga- 
mon,  that  the  dimensions  were  respectively  9  and  90  feet,  of  a  consequent  length 
of  0.337  meter.” 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS,  1S83. 


325 


which  was  one  foot  and  nine  dactyls  square.  These  panels 
were  divided  in  such  wise  that  each  sinking  was  exactly  one 
foot  square,  and  each  stile  nine  dactyls  broad,  the  fillet  run¬ 
ning  along  the  centre  of  the  stiles  being  two  dactyls  wide. 
Thus  four  sinkings,  four  stiles,  and  the  supplemental  fifth 
fillet,  exactly  made  up  the  extent  of  one  hundred  and  two 
dactyls,  or  six  feet  six  dactyls,  required  by  the  span  of  the 
ceiling  from  wall  bed  to  entablature  bed,  above  the  pte- 
romas  of  the  sides  as  well  as  above  that  of  the  rear.  The 
aggregate  width  of  the  ceiling  compartments  above  the  side 
pteromas  was  found,  from  data  already  given,  (namely,  the 
length  of  the  cella  minus  the  thickness  of  one  epistyle  beam,) 
to  be  sixty-seven  feet  seven  dactyls.  This  extent  was  divided 
into  ten  fields,  each  being,  together  with  its  beam,  six  feet 
twelve  dactyls  wide,  within  a  small  fraction  amounting  to 
less  than  one  twelfth  of  an  inch.  One  foot  and  fifteen  dac¬ 
tyls  was  assigned  to  the  thickness  of  the  transverse  support¬ 
ing  beam,  together  with  its  cyma  mouldings,  —  a  dimension 
from  which  constructive  considerations  permitted  no  wide 
departure.  The  remainder,  four  feet  thirteen  dactyls,  was 
divided  into  three  coffers  of  the  dimensions  previously  de¬ 
termined,  according  to  the  width  of  the  pteroma :  three 
coffers  of  one  foot  each,  three  stiles  of  nine  dactyls  each, 
and  the  supplementary  fillet  of  two  dactyls,  amounting  to 
just  the  space  remaining  between  the  beams. 

The  first  departure  of  the  design  of  the  temple  of  Assos 
from  the  arrangement  of  the  Theseion  plan  is  to  be  observed 
in  the  number  of  fields  into  which  the  ceiling  of  the  side 
pteroma  was  thus  divided,  —  an  alteration  for  which  the 
intractable  nature  of  the  stone  employed  was  evidently  re¬ 
sponsible.  It  is  to  be  remarked,  however,  that  the  impossi¬ 
bility  of  dividing  the  length  into  compartments  having,  like 
those  of  the  Theseion,  only  two  coffers  in  width,  may  have 


326 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


furnished  the  occasion  for  this  independent  step.  The  six¬ 
teen  fields  of  the  Theseion,  if  made  of  the  dimensions  requi¬ 
site  at  Assos,  would  not  have  permitted  the  employment  of 
supporting  beams  more  than  fifteen  dactyls  wide,  including 
their  mouldings,  and  practical  considerations  rendered  this 
most  inadvisable. 

The  length  of  the  ceiling  above  the  rear  pteroma,  which 
had  been  determined  by  the  width  of  the  plan,  proved  to  be 
readily  capable  of  division  by  the  factors  thus  obtained.  The 
space  of  thirty-eight  feet  seven  dactyls  between  the  inner 
sides  of  the  lateral  entablatures,  further  diminished  by  the 
projection  of  the  cyma  mouldings  to  about  thirty-eight  feet 
two  dactyls,  could  be  apportioned  into  six  fields  of  nearly  the 
same  size,  and  having  the  same  number  of  sinkings,  as  those 
of  the  side  compartments.  An  adjustment  of  but  about  three 
quarters  of  an  inch  in  each  compartment  was  all  that  was 
necessary  to  permit  the  continuation  of  the  same  system  of 
coffers  in  this  ceiling.  The  necessity  of  such  adjustment, 
small  in  amount  though  it  be,  affords  a  proof  that,  as  has 
been  shown  in  the  foregoing  pages,  the  dimensions  of  the 
ground  plan  were  not  originally  and  directly  based  on  exact 
multiples  of  the  ceiling  compartments,  but  had  been  deter¬ 
mined  irrespective  of  these,  by  the  length  and  width  of  the 
cella. 

Owing  to  constructive  and  aesthetic  considerations,  which 
have  been  fully  set  forth  in  an  earlier  chapter,  the  ceiling 
of  the  vestibule  was  otherwise  designed  than  that  above 
the  rear  pteroma.  Its  length  was  divided  into  four  fields, 
each  containing  five,  instead  of  three  coffers,  —  the  thick¬ 
ness  of  the  supporting  beams  being  increased  in  proportion 
to  their  greater  span.  Five  sinkings  of  one  foot  each,  five 
stiles  of  nine  dactyls  each,  and  the  supplementing  fillet  of 
two  dactyls,  required  each  of  these  compartments  to  be 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS,  1883. 


327 


seven  feet  and  eleven  dactyls  in  length.  Deducting  three 
such  compartments,  plus  the  projection  of  the  cymas  upon 
the  inner  sides  of  the  lateral  entablatures,  from  the  dis¬ 
tance  between  these  sides,  there  remained  six  feet  four  dac¬ 
tyls  to  be  divided  between  the  three  supporting  beams, 
these  supports  thus  becoming  about  three  dactyls  wider  than 
those  of  the  pteroma.  The  ingenuity  displayed  in  this 
method  of  division  has  already  been  commented  upon. 
Thus  it  was  found  that  the.  width  of  the  vestibule  ceiling, 
although  independently  determined,  called  for  no  alteration 
of  the  dimensions  of  the  coffers.  The  space  between  the 
inner  side  of  the  eastern  entablature  and  the  front  wall  of 
the  cella,  equal  to  the  distance  between  the  columns  of  the 
facade  and  those  of  the  pronaos,  from  axis  to  axis,  or  fif¬ 
teen  feet  eight  dactyls,  minus  the  thickness  of  the  entabla¬ 
ture,  amounted  to  twelve  feet  eleven  dactyls,  which  was  fur¬ 
ther  reduced  to  twelve  feet  six  dactyls  by  the  projection  of 
the  cyma  mouldings.  Only  a  small  adjustment  was  required 
to  adapt  eight  sinkings,  eight  stiles,  and  the  supplementary 
fillet,  to  this  span,  and  the  design  of  the  ceiling  of  the  pte¬ 
roma  and  vestibule  could  thus  be  carried  out  with  coffers  of 
the  same  size. 

In  the  ceiling  above  the  pteroma,  which  was  seven  feet 
eight  dactyls  in  depth  and  twenty  feet  fourteen  dactyls  in 
length,  including  the  cyma  mouldings,  we  may  trace  a  simi¬ 
lar  principle  of  division,  but  on  a  smaller  scale,  the  dimen¬ 
sion  of  the  square  panelling  —  or  in  other  words  of  the  unit 
formed  by  coffer  and  stile  together  —  being  here  reduced  to 
a  factor  of  one  foot  one  dactyl. 

It  would  have  been  unreasonable  to  hope,  at  the  com¬ 
mencement  of  the  investigations,  that  so  clear  an  insight 
could  be  gained  into  the  workshop  of  the  builders  of  Assos. 
But  what  would  have  been  the  amazement  of  the  provincial 


I 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE . 


32S 

architect,  methodically  laying  out  his  plan,  had  he  been  in¬ 
formed  that,  after  the  lapse  of  nigh  two  and  a  half  millennia, 
his  work  would  be  thus  retraced,  step  by  step,  by  fellow  crafts¬ 
men  of  barbarous  race  and  of  an  unknown  continent! 

The  chief  dimensions  of  the  temple  of  Assos,  expressed 
in  Assian  feet,  and  compared  with  calculated  and  with  actu¬ 
ally  measured  lengths  in  meters,  may  thus  be  tabulated  :  — 


Assian. 

Calculate! 

Dimen- 

Actual 

Measure- 

Feet. 

Palms. 

Dactyls. 

sions  in 
Meters. 

ments  in 
Meters. 

Length  of  cella . 

Width  of  cella  .... 

Axes  of  columns  from  wall,  side  and  rear 
Axes  of  columns  from  edge  of  stylobate 
(Width  of  pteroma,  side  and  rear)  .  . 

Axes  of  front  columns  from  antse 
(Width  of  front  vestibule)  ..... 
Corner  columns  of  sides,  axis  to  axis  . 
Corner  columns  of  fa9ades,  axis  to  axis 

(Length  of  stylobate) . 

(Width  of  stylobate) . 

Length  of  naos  interior . 

Thickness  of  cella  walls  and  antae  .  . 

Height  of  each  step . 

Tread  of  lower  step1 . 

Height  of  column . 

Height  of  capital . 

Length  of  corner  epistyle  panel  .  .  . 

Thickness  of  entablature  (epistyle)  .  . 

Height  of  epistyle . 

Height  of  frieze . 

Height  of  corona . 

Length  of  roofing  tile . 

Width  of  roofing  tile . 

70 

25 

8 

1 

9 

14 

*5 

92 

41 

95 

44 

55 

2 

15 

1 

9 

2 

2 

2 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

3 

3 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

I 

I 

n 

3 

I 

22.330 

7-975 

2- 552 
0.479 

3- 03° 
4.466 

4- 945 
29.348 
13.079 

30-305 

14.036 

17705 

0.658 

0.279 

0.279 

4-785 

0.478 

3  031 
0.818 
0.818 
0.778 

0  4r9 
0.718 
0.638 

22-33 

7-97 

2- 55 
0.48 

3- °3 

4- 47 
4-95 

29- 35 
I3-°7 

30- 31 

1403 

17.71 

0.66 

0.28 

027I 

4.78 

0.48 

303 

0.82 

0.82 

0.78 

0.42 

0.7 1  i 
o-6  3i 

1  It  is  plain  that  the  rise  and  tread  of  the  lower  step  was  intended  to  be 
equal ;  yet  the  tread,  from  edge  to  angle,  actually  measures  about  five  millimeters 
less  than  the  rise,  and  appears  upon  both  tables  as  equal  to  but  27^  cm.  An 
explanation  of  this  small  difference  will  have  suggested  itself  to  those  who  have 
closely  followed  the  account  of  the  methods  of  construction  adopted  by  the  As¬ 
sian  builders,  given  in  an  earlier  chapter.  In  setting  the  stones  of  the  stylo¬ 
bate  the  tread  of  the  lower  step  was  evidently  scaled  from  its  rise  to  those 
narrow  fillets  which,  having  a  projection  equal  to  about  four  millimeters,  border 
the  joints  of  the  stylobate  blocks.  These  fillets  have  been  described  upon  page 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


329 


With  sole  exception  of  the  width  of  the  cella  door,  which 
is  apparently  incommensurable,1  and  of  the  height  of  the 
gable,  which  was  determined,  not  by  arithmetical,  but  by 
geometrical  methods,2  all  the  main  dimensions  of  the  build¬ 
ing  will  be  found  to  be  included  either  in  this  table  or  in 
the  preceding  analysis  of  the  method  followed  in  laying  out 
the  intercolumniations  of  the  peripteros  and  the  compart¬ 
ments  of  the  coffered  ceilings.  Some  of  these  dimensions 
did  not,  however,  require  independent  determination  by  the 
architect,  but  could  be  directly  deduced  from  a  preceding 
step  of  the  design.  These  are,  in  the  table,  enclosed  in 
parentheses.  They  are  given,  not  only  as  proofs  of  the  sys¬ 
tem  followed  in  laying  out  the  plan,  but  as  indications  of 
the  accuracy  with  which  the  ancient  unit  of  measurement 
is  embodied. 

No  less  than  sixteen  of  the  dimensions  above  enumerated  — 
and  these  sixteen  include  every  length  over  a  meter — em¬ 
body  an  entire  number  of  feet,  or  of  half-feet.  The  deter¬ 
mination  of  the  fundamental  unit  is  hence  neither  difficult 
nor  uncertain.  We  may  estimate  the  length  of  the  foot  rule, 
so  accurately  employed  by  the  Assian  architect,  to  have  been 
as  nearly  as  possible  319  millimeters  (1  foot  and  0.56  inch 
English).  The  closeness  of  the  agreement  between  the 
lengths  now  calculated  as  multiples  of  this  common  factor 
and  those  which  have  been  actually  measured  from  the  ruins 
of  the  temple  is  indeed  extraordinary.  The  average  devia- 

66  of  the  present  volume,  and  are  illustrated  in  Figures  6  and  7.  The  allowance 
thus  made  was  evidently  responsible  for  the  discrepancy  in  the  dimensions. 

1  The  entire  width  of  the  door,  together  with  its  jambs,  is  not  ascertainable 
from  the  ruins,  and  it  may  well  have  been  that  this  dimension  was  laid  out  by 
the  architect  with  some  round  number  of  Assian  feet. 

2  The  fact  that  the  architect  designed  the  slope  of  his  gable  to  form  an  angle 
of  exactly  fifteen  degrees  with  the  horizon  has  been  ascertained  and  discussed  in 
a  former  chapter,  page  106. 


330  ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 

tion  from  the  standard  adopted,  as  ascertained  by  an  analysis 
of  the  twenty-four  items  of  the  above  table,  is  but  about  one 
fifth  of  a  millimeter  (less  than  one  hundredth  of  an  inch)  in 
the  foot,  while  the  average  variation  of  the  actual  measure¬ 
ments  from  the  calculated,  adding  both  plus  and  minus  to¬ 
gether,  is  but  about  three  millimeters  in  the  total  distances, 
these  having  a  mean  of  nearly  seven  meters.  This  is  an 
amount  too  small  to  have  figured  in  the  table  of  dimensions, 
which,  as  has  been  remarked  in  an  earlier  chapter,1  can  make 
no  pretence  to  a  micrometrical  accuracy  such  as  this.  The 
maximum  deviation  is  less  than  a  centimeter,  and  this  ap¬ 
pears  in  one  of  those  dimensions  most  difficult  of  practi¬ 
cal  determination,  either  by  builder  or  investigator,  namely, 
in  the  distance  between  the  corner  columns  of  the  facade 
from  axis  to  axis.  As  this  dimension,  moreover,  exceeds 
seven  meters,  the  relative  error  is  less  than  one  seventh  of 
one  per  cent. 

It  must  be  frankly  admitted  that  so  close  an  agreement 
between  theory  and  measurement  as  that  now  demonstrated 
appears  most  extraordinary  in  a  structure  displaying  so  great 
irregularities  in  respect  to  the  spacing  of  the  members  of  the 
entablature.  Such  a  coincidence  may  even  appear  suspicious 
to  those  investigators  who  are  practically  familiar  with  the 
inexactitude  of  architectural  dimensions,  ancient  as  well  as 
modern,  and  who,  like  the  present  writer,  entertain  a  deeply 
rooted  distrust  of  those  artificial  systems  of  harmonic  propor¬ 
tions,  whether  arithmetic  or  geometric,  which  are  being  con¬ 
tinually  put  forward  as  a  solution  of  the  problems  and  a  key 
to  the  excellence  of  Hellenic  design.  It  is,  therefore,  just 

1  It  has  been  remarked,  in  connection  with  the  table  of  measurements  given 
in  a  former  chapter,  page  140,  that  the  remeasurement  of  the  temple  during  the 
second  and  third  years  of  the  investigations  led  to  the  conviction  that  it  is  not 
practicable  to  express  the  general  dimensions  of  an  edifice  constructed  of  so 
rough  a  material  as  the  Assos  andesite  in  units  smaller  than  half  a  centimeter. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


331 


that  especial  attention  should  be  called  to  the  fact  that  the 
embodiment  in  the  dimensions  of  the  temple  plan  of  an 
Assian  foot  of  any  particular  length  was  not  recognized  at  all 
until  after  the  table  of  measurements  given  upon  pages  139 
and  140  of  the  present  volume  had  been  put  into  print  and 
stereotyped.  In  proof  of  the  truth  of  this,  it  may  be  noticed 
that  a  table  of  dimensions,  identical  in  all  essential  particulars 
with  those  here  repeated,  was  published  in  the  Preliminary 
Report,1  and  that  in  connection  therewith  the  writer  ventured 
a  different  suggestion,  now  proved  to  have  been  erroneous.2 

The  coexistence  in  one  and  the  same  structure  of  meas¬ 
urements  of  such  exceeding  accuracy,  and  of  a  spacing  of  the 
frieze  members  so  irregular  that  metopes  and  triglyphs  occa¬ 
sionally  varied  by  amounts  equal  to  one  fifth  of  their  re¬ 
spective  widths,  may,  however,  be  fully  accounted  for  by  a 
consideration  of  the  methods  of  construction  which  were 
adopted  by  the  builders  of  the  temple.  The  dimensions  of 
the  stylobate,  and  the  site  of  walls  and  columns,  were  laid  out 
in  conformity  with  a  regular  design,  which  must  have  been 
traced  and  figured  before  the  work  itself  was  begun.  The 
ruins  of  the  temple  show  the  ancient  architect  to  have  en¬ 
graved  upon  the  planed  surface  of  the  native  rock,  and  upon 
the  smooth  slabs  of  the  stereobate  laid  thereon,  a  series  of  lines 
indicating  the  position  of  the  outer  face  of  the  cella  walls;3 
the  krepidoma  of  the  temple,  thus  characterized  technically, 
as  well  as  ideally,  as  an  a/3a%,  being  actually  employed  as  a 
drawing  board.  On  the  plan,  Figure  4,  these  delicate  incisions 
are  shown  in  broken  lines,  being  thus  distinguished  from  the 

1  Preliminary  Report,  p.  96.  2  Compare  above,  p.  200,  note. 

8  It  may  be  observed  that  the  lack  of  such  engraving  upon  the  inner  side  of 

the  cella  walls  furnishes  a  clear  indication  that  the  dimensions  which  were  more 

directly  followed  by  the  builders,  and  which  might  hence,  a  priori,  be  supposed 

to  have  embodied  a  round  number  of  ancient  feet,  were  those  of  the  exterior  of 

t  » 
the  cella,  and  not  those  of  the  naos  interior. 


332 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


traces  of  weathering  at  the  bottom  of  the  columns,  and  along 
the  inner  face  of  the  cella  wall,  which  are  dotted. 

A  high  degree  of  accuracy,  both  in  survey  and  measure¬ 
ments,  was  rendered  possible  by  this  method.  It  will  be 
recollected  that  the  right  angles  at  the  comers  of  the  plan 
were  found,  when  tested  by  the  instruments  of  precision  at 
the  service  of  the  investigators,  to  have  been  laid  out  with 
surprising  exactitude.  A  deviation  of  six  minutes  from  the 
theoretical  ninety  degrees  was  all  that  could  be  detected,  this 
error  amounting  to  but  fifty-four  millimeters  in  a  length  of 
over  thirty  meters.  Now  it  is  well  known  that,  for  builders 
working  with  measuring  rods  alone,  the  laying  out  of  angles 
is  a  matter  of  far  greater  difficulty  than  the  direct  deter¬ 
mination  of  dimensions,  and  it  is  hence  not  surprising  that 
the  length  and  breadth  of  stylobate  and  cella  should  vary 
but  little  from  the  calculated  amounts. 

The  case  was  altogether  different  with  the  spacing  of  the 
frieze  members,  this  having  been  effected,  not  by  any  direct 
application  of  a  predetermined  scale,  but  by  testing  and  fitting 
each  lintel,  metope,  and  triglyph  upon  the  entablature  in  the 
course  of  erection.  The  extent  and  tendencies  of  the  devia¬ 
tions  resulting  from  this  system  of  construction  have  been 
fully  discussed  in  the  section  of  this  work  which  treats  of  the 
location  of  the  sculptured  epistyle  blocks,1  and  to  the  argu¬ 
ments  therein  set  forth  the  attention  of  the  reader  must  now 
be  referred. 

The  unit  of  measurement  employed  in  the  building  of  the 
temple  at  Assos  being  thus  determined,  we  are  naturally 
led  to  inquire  whether  a  foot  of  similar  length  is  known, 
from  other  investigations,  to  have  been  in  use  among  the 
Greeks.  The  affirmative  answer  to  this  question,  which  is 
given  by  the  most  trustworthy  data  of  classical  metrology, 

1  Compare  above,  Chapter  III.  pp.  25.5  to  258. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS,  1883. 


333 


provides  a  conclusive  proof  of  the  correctness  of  the  present 
identification. 

The  foot  of  319  millimeters,  now  ascertained  to  have  been  in 
use  in  the  Troad  towards  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century  be¬ 
fore  Christ  is  clearly  identical  with  that  chief  unit  of  measure¬ 
ment  among  European  Greeks  at  this  period,  the  so  called 
Olympian  foot,  which  has  been  determined  with  great  ac¬ 
curacy,  by  the  recent  excavations  in  the  Altis,  to  have  had  a 
length  of  from  320.1  to  320.6  millimeters.1  Both  must  have 
been  derived  from  one  common  prototype,  the  Assyrian  foot 
of  319.68  millimeters,2  a  unit  of  that  system  to  which  the 
7 /xeTpLos  of  Herodotos3  is  known  to  have  belonged. 
The  historical  connection  which  is  to  be  traced  between 
the  metrical  systems  of  Assyria  and  Hellas  has  been  ably 
set  forth  by  Lepsius4  and  by  Brandis,5  whose  belief  that 


1  See  the  deductions  of  Adler  and  Dorpfeld  in  vol.  iii.  pp.  26  and  29,  and 
vol.  v.  pp.  23  and  37,  of  Die  Ausgrabungen  zu  Olympia.  Compare  also  the  con¬ 
clusions  of  Lepsius  (Carl  Richard),  Die  Ldngenmaasse  der  Alten ,  Berlin,  1884, 
and  of  Hultsch  (Friedrich),  Die  Grundmaasse  der  griechischen  Tevipel,  Archao- 
logische  Zeitung,  vol.  xxxviii.,  Berlin,  1881. 

2  The  most  accurate  determination  of  the  length  of  the  Assyrian  foot  is  that  of 
Lepsius,  in  the  work  quoted  in  the  preceding  note;  his  estimate  is  that  adopted 
in  the  text.  Oppert  (Jules),  Mission  de  la  Babylonie ,  in  V Athenaeum  Fran¬ 
cois,  Paris,  1854,  No.  16,  deriving  his  conclusions  from  the  average  measurements 
of  550  bricks,  first  fixed  the  length  of  this  unit  at  315  mm.,  but  subsequently,  in 
his  Expedition  scientifique  en  Alesopotamie,  Paris,  1859-63,  vol.  i.  p.  229,  found 
a  unit  of  320  mm.  to  be  more  nearly  correct.  This  does  not  appear  surprising, 
in  view  of  the  well  known  shrinkage  of  burnt  clay.  Brandis  (Johannes),  Das 
Aliinz-,  Mass-  und  Gewichtswesen  in  Vorderasien ,  Berlin,  1866,  gives  320  mm. 
in  round  numbers  ;  but  Hultsch,  Griechische  und  Romische  Metrologie,  §  8, 
prefers  315  mm.,  with  variations  ranging  between  314  and  316.6  mm.  Petrie 
(W.  M.  Flinders),  Inductive  Afetrology,  or  the  Recovery  of  Ancient  Aleasures  from 
the  Monuments,  London,  1 877,  apparently  following  the  earlier  determination  of 
Oppert,  assumes  the  Assyrian  foot  to  equal  12.40  English  inches,  or  314.95  me¬ 
ters.  Compare  also  upon  this  point  Queipo  (Vasquez),  Essai  stir  les  Systlmes 
Mltriques  et  Monetaires  des  anciens  Peuples ,  Paris,  1859,  vol.  i.  p.  279. 

3  Herodotos,  I.  178. 

4  Lepsius,  work  quoted  in  a  foregoing  note,  p.  73,  et  passim. 

6  Brandis,  work  quoted  in  note  2,  above. 


334 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


the  Mesopotamian  units  of  length  were  received  by  the 
European  Greeks  through  the  intermediation  of  the  Greek 
colonists  of  Asia  Minor  is  fully  confirmed  by  the  discoveries 
at  Assos.  The  difference  observable  between  the  Assyrian 
and  the  Assian  foot,  namely,  three  fifths  of  a  millimeter,  or 
two  per  mille,  is  altogether  negligible  in  a  comparison  of 
this  nature.  Even  to-day,  when  measuring  rods  are  divided 
by  the  scientific  process  of  engine  ruling,  the  foot  and  meter 
measures  in  use  by  practical  men  frequently  display  a  varia¬ 
tion  much  greater  than  this.1 


1  Dorpfeld,  in  illustrating  this  truth,  relates  that  the  meter  sticks  offered  for 
sale  in  the  shop  of  one  optician  at  Athens,  a  few  years  ago,  varied  fully  three 
millimeters.  I  have  now  before  me  two  finely  divided  foot  measures,  stamped 
U.  S.  Standard,  which,  doubtless  from  shrinkage,  vary  not  less  than  three  sixty- 
fourths  of  an  inch.  A  hair-splitting  measurement  of  architectural  members, 
such  as  has  been  assumed  by  certain  writers  upon  ancient  metrology,  would 
not  only  be  practically  impossible  in  stone-work  of  any  kind,  but  would  have 
been  inconceivable  to  the  mind  of  the  Greek  workman,  untrained  in  the  Ameri¬ 
can  system  of  interchangeable  parts.  For  information  concerning  the  discre¬ 
pancies  in  dimensions  which  are  to  be  detected  even  in  the  Parthenon,  —  the 
most  perfectly  executed  building  which  the  world  has  ever  seen,  —  compare 
Penrose,  Principles  of  Athenian  Architecture,  pp.  9,  141,  etc. 


APPENDIX. 


RELATIONS  OF  MODERN  TO  ANCIENT  LIFE. 


O  an  intimate  knowledge  of  Greek  civilization,  derived  from 


X  the  material  remains  of  antiquity  and  from  the  passages  of 
classic  literature  bearing  upon  them,  archaeological  science  should 
add  a  feeling  of  immediate,  and,  so  to  speak,  personal  acquaintance 
with  the  life  of  the  ancients.  In  the  endeavor  to  gain  this,  there 
can  be  no  greater  aid  than  that  resulting  from  a  thoughtful  obser¬ 
vation  of  the  Greeks  of  to-day,  —  notably  from  a  comparison  of  the 
Romaic  with  the  Hellenic  peasant,  —  certain  primitive  conceptions 
and  customs  having  been  retained  by  the  country  people,  under 
peculiarly  favorable  circumstances,  through  unbroken  traditions. 
Among  the  modern  representatives  of  the  Greek  race,  debased  as 
it  has  been  by  centuries  of  Byzantine  ecclesiasticism,  and  by  subju¬ 
gation  to  Tartar  conquerors,  we  have  an  occasional  glimpse  of  the 
well-known  figures  of  antiquity,  —  not  as  historical  abstractions,  but 
as  living  beings,  dwelling  beneath  the  same  clear  sky,  their  horizon 
bordered  by  the  same  sharp  outlines  of  volcanic  crests. 

In  none  of  the  lands  occupied  by  the  ancient  Greeks  have  the 
peculiar  features  of  their  daily  life  been  better  preserved  than  on 
the  islands  of  the  Archipelago  and  the  coasts  of  Asia  Minor.  The 
Turks  of  the  fifteenth  century,  landing  upon  the  Sporades  to 
enforce  tribute,  saw  the  inhabitants  scamper  away  to  the  moun¬ 
tains,  without  an  attempt  at  resistance,  and  called  them  taushan- 
lar  (hares),  by  which  name  the  Rayahs  are  still  derided.  Yet  this 
very  timorousness,  this  bending  of  the  weaker  but  more  supple 


336 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


race  before  the  stronger,  —  of  the  reed  before  the  storm-wind, — 
has  saved  the  civilization  of  the  Byzantine  Greeks  from  being 
altogether  swept  away  before  the  resistless  advance  of  the  Moham¬ 
medan  power.  Communities  such  as  those  in  the  interior  of  Lem¬ 
nos,  or  upon  the  remote  height  of  Samothrace,  continued  to  exist 
in  an  almost  entire  seclusion  long  after  Turkish  arms  had  subju¬ 
gated  the  southern  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  had  even  ap¬ 
peared  beneath  the  walls  of  Vienna.  The  self-centred  life  of  the 
Greek  peasants  in  these  forgotten  corners  may  be  compared  to  an 
eddy  at  the  side  of  some  great  stream,  keeping  within  its  slowly 
revolving  circles  vestiges  of  materials,  of  which  the  mass  was  long 
since  borne  down  by  the  main  current. 

The  exceptionally  favorable  character  of  the  Sporades,  and  of  the 
northern  coasts  of  Asia  Minor,  in  this  respect,  has  often  attracted 
notice.  As  early  as  1677,  Georgirenes,  Archbishop  of  Samos,  re¬ 
marked,  in  the  words  of  his  English  translator  :  “  Scarce  any  part 
of  Greece  has  less  intermixture  with  the  Turks  than  these  isles, 
where  the  Greek  language  and  religion  is  less  intrench’d  upon.”1 
Douglas'2  thought  that  pure  Greek  blood  was  more  generally  to 
be  found  on  the  islands  of  the  Archipelago  than  on  the  continent 
of  Europe.  Wachsmuth3  compares  the  Sporades,  and  that  portion 
of  Asia  Minor  which  has  retained  its  Greek  population,  with  the 
fastnesses  of  Maina ;  while  Schmidt4  declares  the  civilization  of 
these  districts  to  be  more  free  than  that  of  the  Peloponnesos  from 
the  influence  of  Albanian  and  Bulgarian  immigrants,  and  in  support 
of  his  position  offers  various  proofs  derived  from  etymological 
comparisons. 

The  maintenance  of  Byzantine  traditions  on  the  shores  of  the 
Gulf  of  Adramyttion  is  attested  by  the  numerous  contributions  to 
Greek  folk-lore  which  have  been  derived  from  these  districts. 

1  Georgirenes  (Joseph),  A  Description  of  the  Present  State  of  Samos,  Nicaria, 
Patmos,  and  Alt.  Athos.  London,  1678.  There  appears  to  be  no  Greek  original 
of  this  valuable  tract. 

2  Douglas  (Frederic  Sylvester  North),  Essay  on  certain  Points  of  Resem¬ 
blance  between  the  Ancient  and  Modern  Greeks.  Second  edition.  London, 
1823. 

3  Wachsmuth  (Curt),  Das  alte  Griechenland  im  Neuen.  Bonn,  1864. 

4  Schmidt  (Bernhard),  Das  Volksleben  der  Neugriechen  und  das  hellenische 
Alterthum.  Leipzig,  1871. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS. 


337 


Three  of  the  Marcher)  in  Hahn’s  collection  1  were  told  in  Aivaly,2 
almost  within  sight  of  Assos ;  and  two  of  the  shorter  tales  given  by 
Schmidt3  are  from  Mytilene. 


Language  and  Superstitions. 

The  Greeks  of  the  Asiatic  continent  maintain  a  most  creditable 
pride  in  their  national  traditions  and  language,  even  in  cases  where 
the  Romaic  idiom  has  been  in  great  measure  lost.  The  villagers 
on  the  southern  slope  of  the  range  of  Ida,  between  Assos  and 
Adramyttion,  speak  a  curious  jargon,  the  names  for  objects  in 
every-day  use  being  chiefly  Turkish.  Traces  of  the  Genoese  occu¬ 
pation  of  the  Lesbian  principality  are  also  apparent.  The  Rayah 
peasants,  when  asked  the  name  of  some  rude  agricultural  imple¬ 
ment,  would  almost  invariably  reply  by  a  Turkish  word;  but  they 
would  not  fail  to  speak  of  themselves  as  s  to  YpeKol 

In  the  interior  the  case  is  often  still  more  striking.  A  friend  of 
the  writer,  a  Frank  engaged  by  the  Porte  as  a  civil  engineer,  on  a 
journey  through  the  province  of  Hodavendigiar,4-came  to  a  small 
town,  so  completely  severed  from  communication  with  the  Greek 
population  of  the  coast  that  its  inhabitants,  though  of  Greek  descent, 
had,  after  six  centuries  of  subjugation  to  the  Turks,  altogether 
forgotten  their  native  language.  The  visitor  was  waited  upon  by 
a  deputation  of  the  chief  men  of  the  place,  who  asked  him,  in 
Turkish,  to  do  them  the  favor  of  conversing  in  Greek  with  their 
new  schoolmaster,  that  he  might  be  able  to  tell  them  whether  this 
person  spoke  a  good  dialect,  and  was  competent  to  teach  their 

1  Hahn  (J.  G.  von),  Griechische  und  Albanesische  Marchen.  Gesammelt, 
ubersetzt  und  erldutert.  Leipzig,  1864.  Numbers  49,  50,  and  72.  The  second 
of  these  is,  however,  not  a  true  Marchen,  but  a  reminiscence  of  the  novel  of 
Apollonius  of  Tyre.  Attention  has  been  called  to  this  origin  of  the  tale  by 
Liebrecht,  in  the  Heidelbcrger  Jahrbiicher,  Jahrgang  1864,  No.  14.  It  should 
be  particularly  observed  that  the  tenure  of  Byzantine  civilization  in  the  modern 
town  of  Aivaly  is  wholly  dependent  upon  the  Greek  inhabitants  of  the  island  of 
Mytilene  and  the  neighboring  Adramyttion. 

2  On  the  site  of  the  ancient  Herakleia. 

3  Schmidt  (Bernhard),  Griechische  Marchen,  Sagen  und  Volkslieder.  Leipzig, 
1877.  Marchen  No.  22,  and  Sage  No  2. 

4  Comprising  the  greater  part  of  ancient  Mysia. 

22 


33s 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


children  well.  It  appeared  that  these  men,  being  possessed  of 
some  little  property,  had,  in  order  that  their  descendants  might 
again  become  Greeks,  sent  for  a  schoolmaster  from  Athens,  with 
whom  they  were  themselves  unable  to  talk.1  So  deeply  rooted  are 
the  national  sympathies,  even  in  those  Rayahs  among  whom  the 
traditions  of  Byzantine  culture  have  been  lost  for  twenty  genera¬ 
tions!  It  would  be  impossible  to  find,  in  modern  times,  a  better 
illustration  of  those  sentiments  of  the  inhabitants  of  ancient  Posei- 
donia,  described  by  Aristoxenos :  “For  it  happened  to  them,  who 
were  originally  Greeks,  that  they  were  utterly  barbarized,  becoming 
Tyrrhenians  or  Romans,  so  that  they  changed  their  language  and 
all  their  customs.  But  even  at  the  present  day  they  observe  one 
Hellenic  festival,  on  which  occasion,  coming  together,  they  call  to 
memory  their  ancient  names  and  usages,  bewailing  them  one  to 
another;  and  having  wept  for  the  loss  of  them,  they  separate.”  2 

The  Christian  communities  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Gulf  of  Adra- 
myttion  retain  many  of  those  reminiscences  of  the  religious  ob¬ 
servances  of  the  Pagans  which  have  so  often  been  referred  to  by 
writers  upon  the  origin  of  the  rites  of  the  Church.  On  festival 
days  the  churches  of  the  modern,  like  the  temples  of  the  ancient 
Greeks,  are  decked  with  leaves  and  flowers ;  ever-burning  lamps 
are  still  placed  before  the  sacred  images ;  offerings  of  cakes,  still 
known  as  KoXXvfSa,  are  laid  upon  the  altars  ;  and  even  to-day  the 
country  people  parade  saintly  relics  from  field  to  field,  to  drive  away 
the  enemies  of  the  harvest.  In  districts  remote  from  the  great 
commercial  centres,  exorcism  is  practised  with  rites  singularly  re¬ 
sembling  those  of  classical  antiquity.  Not  only  human  beings,  but 
flocks  and  herds,  even  fields  of  grain  and  orchards  of  olives,  are 
believed  to  be  liable  to  the  baneful  influence  of  bewitchment  and 
demoniacal  possession.  During  the  summers  of  1881  and  1882 
the  inhabitants  of  Eren-Kieui,3  one  of  the  few  villages  of  the  Troad 

1  The  Greeks  throughout  the  interior  of  Asia  Minor,  parts  of  Kappadokia 
alone  excepted,  have  lost  their  language,  and  are  now  making  the  most  strenu¬ 
ous  efforts  to  regain  it.  Their  success  is  remarkable.  In  Konia,  for  instance, 
all  the  Greek  children  under  fifteen  years  of  age  speak  Romaic  well,  while  their 
parents  know  only  Turkish.  —  J.  R.  S.  S. 

2  Quoted  by  Athenaios,  XIV.  31. 

3  Close  to  the  site  of  the  ancient  Ophryneion. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS. 


339 


populated  exclusively  by  Greeks,  went  in  solemn  procession  through 
all  the  fields  of  the  neighborhood.  They  were  led  by  a  priest,  who 
bore  aloft  certain  relics,  brought  from  the  island  of  Lemnos,  which 
were  considered  efficacious  against  the  swarms  of  locusts  then  de¬ 
vouring  the  young  wheat.1  So  firm  wras  the  belief  of  the  villagers 
in  the  potency  of  this  charm,  that  they  went  to  considerable  expense 
in  order  to  obtain  the  sacred  remains  for  such  occasions.  The 
same  desire  to  ward  off  these  pests  induced  the  dwellers  on  Mount 
Oite,  two  thousand  years  ago,  to  invoke  the  aid  of  Herakles  Kor- 
nopien,2 —  the  locust-scarer,  —  and  even  the  Athenians  of  the  time 
of  Perikles  to  erect,  near  the  Parthenon,  a  statue  of  bronze  dedi¬ 
cated  to  Apollo  Parnopios.3 

Names  and  Personal  Characteristics.  - 

As  was  customary  in  the  days  of  Homer,  the  Greeks  of  the  lower 
classes  are  usually  known  by  one  name  only.  When  a  more  exact 
designation  is  necessary,  either  the  paternal  name  or  that  of  the 
native  place  is  added.  The  latter  combination  is  the  more  fre¬ 
quent.  Thus,  the  Christian  name  John  being  particularly  common, 
almost  every  village  in  the  vicinity  had  its  representative  at  Assos, 
called  Jani-Chipni,  -Stypsis,  -Skamnia,  etc.  So  entirely  lost  are  the 
higher  forms  of  the  language,  that  the  genitive  is  in  Asia  Minor 
never  employed  in  these  additions. 

Among  the  workmen  the  well-known  names  of  classical  antiquity 
were  not  wanting.  In  one  of  the  gangs  there  was  a  Themistokles 
and  a  Perikles  ;  in  another,  a  very  degenerate  Aristeides.4  The 
laundress  of  the  expedition,  a  woman  of  Mytilene,  was  known  as 
Eriphyle,  —  a  name  of  especial  interest  because  its  rare  occurrence 

1  The  similar  employment  of  a  picture  of  the  Virgin,  brought  to  the  coast  of 
Asia  Minor  by  a  monk  of  Leros  in  order  to  charm  away  the  locusts  which  were 
devouring  the  grape-vines,  is  related  by  Ross  (Ludwig),  Reisen  auf  den  Grie- 
chischen  Inseln  des  Aegdischen  Meeres ,  vol.  ii.  p.  1 1 7.  Stuttgart,  1840-43. 

2  Strabo,  p.  613.  3  Pausanias,  I.  24.  8. 

4  An  extended,  but  still  very  incomplete  list  of  the  names  of  classical  an¬ 
tiquity  which  have  survived  among  the  Greeks  of  to-day  is  given  by  Boltz 
(August),  Die  Hellenischen  Taufnamen  der  Gegenwart,  soweit  dieselben  antikin 

Ursprungs  sind.  Leipzig,  1884.  The  consideration  of  these  names  is  not 
without  philological  importance. 


340 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


in  classic  literature  may  almost  be  taken  as  a  proof  of  its  having 
been  retained  in  unbroken  tradition  from  the  earliest  ages  of  Hel- 
lenic  culture,  from  the  legends  of  the  necklace  of  Samothracian 
Harmonia,  or  those  of  the  house  of  Theban  Cadmus.  At  least  three 
generations  of  her  family,  natives  of  the  interior  of  the  island,  had 
borne  this  name.  They  were  illiterate  people,  and  could  not  have 
chosen  it  from  books.  Moreover,  the  words  of  Odysseus,  “  Hateful 
Eriphyle,  who  accepted  precious  gold  for  her  dear  husband,”1  — 
the  only  passage  of  ancient  literature  containing  this  name  to  which 
even  the  most  learned  Mytilenean  of  the  last  century  could  have 
had  access,  —  are  hardly  such  as  to  make  it  attractive. 

As  was  the  case  also  in  ancient  times,  the  men  were  known  on 
all  hands  by  nicknames,  generally  derived  from  their  personal  ap¬ 
pearance.  One  hard-working  and  good-natured  giant,  for  instance, 
was  invariably  called  o-7rcm>s,  —  the  poorly-whiskered.  Any  scanti¬ 
ness  of  the  hairy  covering  of  the  face  is  held  in  great  disfavor  by 
the  modern  Greeks.  Thus  the  puny  tailor  of  our  nursery  tale,  who 
kills  seven  flies  at  one  stroke,  becomes  sufficiently  contemptible  in 
the  Romaic2  rendering  of  this  Indo-European  myth  through  being 
called  “the  beardless  one.”  The  extreme  aversion  felt  for  this 
defect  appears,  however,  of  Mohammedan  or  of  Slavonic  rather 
than  of  Hellenic  origin,  and  is  to  be  traced  in  legends  which  cannot 
have  been  derived  from  classic  sources.  The  pride  taken  by  the 
Turks  in  a  full  and  flowing  beard  may  also  have  influenced  the 
views  of  the  Rayahs  in  this  regard. 

By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  conceptions  and  customs  of  the 
modern  Greeks  are,  however,  such  as  were  introduced  by  Chris¬ 
tianity.  The  names  of  the  saints  and  fathers  of  the  Eastern 
Church  are  to  day  much  more  numerous  than  those  of  classic 
origin.  I  hese  latter  are  limited,  on  the  one  hand,  to  the  most 
humble  of  the  country  people,  —  who,  being  entirely  illiterate,  have 
retained  them  through  persistent  family  traditions,  —  and,  on  the 
other,  to  the  educated  and  unbelieving  classes,  who  adopt  them 
through  an  affected  archaism.  Between  these  extremes,  almost  all 
the  names  are  Christian.  A  characteristic  instance  is  that  of  our 
friend,  the  wealthy  valonea  merchant,  the  official  Commissioner  of 

1  Homer,  Od.,  XI.  325. 

2  Hahn,  Mdrchen,  quoted  above,  No.  18. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS. 


341 


the  third  year.  He  himself  was  christened  Nikolaos  Hadji  Chris¬ 
tos,  —  perhaps  in  honor  of  that  eminent  leader  of  the  Servian  and 
Bulgarian  cavalry  who  fought  against  Ibrahim  at  Krommydi  in 
1825  ;  but  his  sons,  enjoying  the  advantages  of  an  academic  edu¬ 
cation  in  Athens,  bear  names  famous  in  the  fifth  century  before 
Christ. 

Among  the  Turkish  workmen  were  examples  of  nearly  all  the 
well-known  names  of  Ottoman  history,  —  Osman,  Ali,  Hassan, 
Houssein,  Veli,  Mehmet,  and  others.  Omer,  the  foreman  of  his 
gang,  a  native  of  Behram,  and  a  typical  representative  of  his  power¬ 
ful  and  noble  race,  was  known  as  Choush,  he  having  been  a  ser¬ 
geant  in  the  Turkish  army  during  the  late  war  with  Russia.  From 
the  first  until  the  last  day  of  the  excavations  he  was  regarded,  with¬ 
out  question,  as  a  leader,  and  fully  justified  the  steadily  increasing 
confidence  which  was  reposed  in  him.  Ahmet  Sudji,  the  water- 
carrier,  was  equally  faithful  in  service,  as  were,  indeed,  all  the  other 
Turkish  villagers  who  were  employed.  Their  energy  and  ability, 
their  unvarying  faithfulness  and  personal  attachment,  inspired  a 
high  opinion  in  regard  to  the  physical  and  moral  nature  of  the  un¬ 
corrupted  Turk.  One  would  hesitate  in  bestowing  commendation 
upon  men  of  such  simple  dignity,  were  it  not  improbable  that  these 
words  should  ever  come  to  their  knowledge.  Not  one  of  the 
Turks,  and  only  two  among  the  sixty  Greeks,  who  from  time  to 
time  worked  for  the  expedition,  could  read. 

The  Rayahs  were,  in  general,  found  to  be  more  active,  but  less 
enduring;  more  ambitious,  and  generally  more  intelligent,  but  far 
less  trustworthy,  than  the  Turks.  They  are  characterized  by  the 
same  elasticity  of  body  and  mind  which  was  so  prominent  a  trait  of 
the  ancient  Greeks,  —  by  the  same  fickleness,  and  the  same  pride 
in  superior  cunning  and  dissimulation.  Throughout  Greece  the 
exclamation,  'ken/mra  Aeyeis/  is  merely  a  cajoling  flattery,  quite  free 
from  the  insulting  rudeness  of  its  English  equivalent;  and  the 
Romaic,  like  the  Hellenic  Greek,  acts  in  perfect  conformity  with 
the  famous  apophthegm  of  Theodoros,1  that  a  man  ought  to  appro¬ 
priate  all  he  can,  but  ever  to  sing  the  praises  of  justice  and  moder¬ 
ation.  During  the  course  of  the  work  two  exceedingly  efficient 
Greek  foremen  had  to  be  dismissed,  for  deceit  and  for  theft, 

1  In  Athenaios,  III.  94. 


342 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


although  they  had  only  been  promoted  to  their  positions  of  trust 
after  long  and  intelligent  service. 

All  the  men  were  hard  workers.  The  ruins  were  not  often  pro¬ 
tected  by  a  deep  soil,  and  much  time  and  labor  had  to  be  spent  in 
disengaging  and  rolling  away  the  large  building  stones,  which  lay 
as  they  had  been  overthrown.  The  late  Atrium  of  the  lower  town 
was  the  structure  most  deeply  buried,  by  earth  carried  down  upon 
it  from  the  terraces  above.  Calculations  made  at  this  point,  and  at 
the  great  chute  beneath  the  retaining  wall  of  the  Agora,  showed 
that  the  average  work  of  the  men  compared  favorably  with  the 
seven  cubic  meters  of  gravel  which  the  convicts  of  Siberia  are 
daily  required  to  move. 

Wages  and  Cost  of  Living. 

During  1881  the  number  of  men  employed  was  so  small,  that  it 
was  found  expedient  to  pay  all  of  them  at  the  uniform  rate  of  one 
half  a  medjid  a  day.  The  digging  of  the  first  season  was  not  begun 
until  August,  when  it  is  always  more  difficult  to  obtain  workmen 
than  in  the  earlier  summer  and  spring.  The  crop  of  valonea, 
the  all-important  staple  of  the  Troad,  requires  no  care  whatever 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  but  in  the  autumn  attracts 
laborers  even  from  the  olive  gardens  of  Mytilene.  At  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  second  year’s  work,  in  March,  1882,  there  was  no  lack 
of  hands.  Every  one  of  the  Turks  who  had  been  employed  during 
the  preceding  year,  and  the  majority  of  the  fickle  Greeks,  though 
often  living  at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  site,  returned  to  ask 
for  re-engagement.  In  the  dull  season,  after  the  Easter  holidays, 
over  one  hundred  applicants  presented  themselves. 

Favored  by  this  state  of  the  labor  market,  the  wages  were  gen¬ 
erally  reduced.  At  the  same  time,  the  employment  of  a  more 
numerous  force  rendered  it  advisable  to  grade  the  amounts  paid, 
according  to  the  efficiency  of  the  individuals.  New  hands,  shov¬ 
ellers  or  barrow-trundlers,  received  thirteen  piasters  cherouk,1  or 

1  Cherouk,  or  long  money,  signifies  that  the  medjid  is  divided  into  thirty- 
three  piasters,  in  contrast  to  gera,  according  to  which  it  is  divided  into  twenty. 
The  distribution  of  these  two  systems  in  the  various  provinces  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire  is  very  peculiar,  adjoining  towns  often  employing  the  same  coins  at 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS. 


343 


$0,323  a  day;  the  original  wages  of  one  half  a  medjid  (sixteen  and 
a  half  piasters  cherouk),  or  $0.40,  being  allowed  only  to  the  car¬ 
penter  and  one  or  two  chief  pickmen,  whose  reliability  had  been 
proved  during  the  first  season,  and  who  were  held  responsible  for 
the  work  of  their  gang  when  employed  in  positions  which  rendered 
a  constant  supervision  impossible. 

Small  as  these  sums  may  seem  to  persons  unacquainted  with 
Oriental  values,  they  were  nevertheless  a  fair  return  even  for  the 
hard  ten  hours’  work  required.  The  cost  of  living  at  Behram,  for 
a  single  man,  was  but  about  thirty  piasters  cherouk  per  week,  this 
providing  the  simple  food  and  paying  the  bakhal  or  cafedji  for  the 
privilege  of  sleeping  under  shelter.  Thus,  unless  the  outlay  was 
increased  by  an  unreasonable  consumption  of  tobacco,  —  to  be  had, 
contraband,  for  about  twelve  cents  a  pound,  —  the  workmen  might 
easily  lay  by  from  one  half  to  two  thirds  of  their  earnings. 

An  interesting  comparison  may  be  made  between  the  wages  paid 
during  the  excavation  of  Assos  and  those  customary  in  Greek  an¬ 
tiquity,  the  value  of  both  being  expressed  in  the  necessaries  of  life. 
Considering  that  such  a  parallel  between  the  economics  of  the  ancient 
and  modern  Greeks  has  not  hitherto  been  made,  —  so  far  as  the  writer 
is  aware,  —  and  that  the  disbursements  of  the  expedition  and  the  ex¬ 
penses  of  the  workmen  at  Behram  provide  an  excellent  basis,  a  detailed 
examination  of  the  question  will  not  be  without  importance.2 

It  cannot  involve  any  considerable  error  to  assume,  in  the  com¬ 
putation  of  ancient  prices,  the  sum  of  four  obols  (13  cents  metallic 
value)  as  the  average  daily  pay  of  a  common  laborer  two  thousand 
years  ago.  Lucian,3  referring  to  the  age  of  Timon  the  misanthrope, 

different  valuations.  The  complication  is  increased  by  the  maintenance  of 
other  systems  still,  for  official  customs,  banking  calculations,  etc.  The  accounts 
of  the  expedition  in  Turkish  money,  begun  in  Mytilene  where  gera  is  universal, 
were  continued  in  that  reckoning,  although  at  Behram  cherouk  is  alone  in  use. 

1  In  this  calculation  the  Turkish  pound  (lira)  is  reckoned  at  its  gold  value, 
$4.37,  and  the  medjid  consequently  at  about  $0.81. 

2  I  scarcely  need  to  remind  the  reader  of  the  words  of  Adam  Smith:  “Labor 
alone,  never  varying  in  its  own  value, is  the  ultimate  and  true  standard  by  which 
the  value  of  all  commodities  can  at  all  times  and  places  be  estimated  and  com¬ 
pared.  It  is  their  real  price ;  money  is  their  nominal  price  only.” 

3  Lucian,  Timon,  VI.  It  is  of  little  moment,  in  the  present  consideration, 
whether  the  writer  be  assumed  to  state  here  the  wages  of  his  own  day,  or  those 
which  were  customary  at  the  earlier  period. 


344 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


speaks  of  the  wages  of  a  digger  with  the  spade  as  equal  to  this  amount, 
and  the  same  also  appears  as  the  daily  earnings  of  a  porter  in  a  frag¬ 
ment  of  Aristophanes.1 

The  stone-cutters  who  sawed  the  beams  of  the  coffered  ceiling  of 
the  Erechtheion  were  paid  at  the  rate  of  one  drachma,  or  six  obols,  a 
day,2  while  the  carpenters  who  framed  the  roof  of  the  same  building 
had  five  obols.3  This  is  but  one  half  and  one  quarter  as  much  again, 
respectively,  as  the  average  amount  assumed  for  a  day  laborer.  More¬ 
over,  throughout  antiquity,  the  expenses  of  living  were  greater  in 
Athens  than  elsewhere,4 *  —  even  as  at  the  present  day  the  necessaries 
of  life,  and  consequently  also  the  wages,  rule  somewhat  higher  in  large 
towns  than  in  the  country.  It  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  ex¬ 
ceedingly  small  pay  of  these  thoroughly  trained  artificers,  one 
might  almost  say  artists.6  The  salaries  paid  to  the  architect  and 
the  clerk  of  the  works  were  little  more  than  nominal,  the  former 
receiving  no  more  than  a  stone-sawyer,  one  drachma  a  day  j  the 
latter  no  more  than  a  carpenter,  five  obols.6 

Of  greater  importance  in  the  present  calculation  than  the  wages  of 
such  skilled  hands,  is  the  hire  of  marines  and  mercenary  soldiers. 
The  pay  of  common  sailors  in  the  navies  of  Greece  and  Persia,  shortly 
before  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  before  Christ,  seems  to  have 
been  three  obols  a  day.7  This  was  in  time  of  war,  when  able  seamen 
were  in  great  demand,  and  when,  as  is  evident  from  the  extraordinary 

1  Preserved  by  Pollux,  VII.  133  (XXIX.).  Aristophanes  elsewhere  (Ekktes., 
310)  mentions  wages  of  three  obols  a  day. 

2  Corpus  Inscript.  Attic.,  No.  324. 

3  Compare  upon  this  point  the  restoration  of  the  inscription  given  bv  Rhi- 
zos  Rhankabes  (Rangabe,  Alexander),  Antiquites  Helleniques,  vol.  i.  p.  68,  §  2. 
Athenes,  1842-55.  His  conclusions  are  accepted  by  Boeckh  (August),  Die 
Staatshaushaltung  der  Athener,  vol.  i.  p.  165.  Second  edition.  Berlin,  1851. 

4  The  authorities  for  this  statement  have  been  collected  by  Boeckh,  Ibid., 

vol.  i.,  quoted  above. 

6  These  low  salaries  can  hardly  be  explained  by  supposing  that  the  honor 
which  labor  upon  the  noble  monuments  of  the  Athenian  Acropolis  might  imply 
was  regarded  as  a  compensation,  as  might  possibly  be  inferred  from  the  state¬ 
ment  that  the  very  beasts  of  burden  which  had  borne  the  stones  employed  in 
the  building  of  the  Parthenon  were  thereafter  freed  from  all  labor,  and  permitted 
to  graze  at  liberty  for  the  rest  of  their  lives.  Plutarch,  Cato  Maj.,  V.  5. 

6  See  the  explanation  of  this  interesting  passage  given  by  Rangabe,  Anti¬ 
quites,  quoted  above,  vol.  i.  p.  67,  §  14,  and  p.  78,  §  4. 

1  Plutarch,  Alkib.,  XXXV.  5. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS. 


345 


gratifications  obtained  for  his  men  by  Lysander,1  every  effort  was  made 
to  render  the  service  attractive.  It  is,  of  course,  to  be  borne  in  mind 
that  no  expense  was  here  incurred  for  food  and  lodging,  and  that,  con¬ 
sequently,  fully  half  as  much  again  is  to  be  added  in  computing  the 
pay  of  those  living  under  ordinary  circumstances.  In  accordance 
herewith,  the  usual  hire  of  soldiers  maintaining  themselves  was  fixed 
at  four  obols  a  day.2  So  general  and  so  long  continued  was  this 
rate,  that  the  phrase  rerpo^oAov  /3tos  became  proverbial  for  a  trooper’s 
life.3  The  lines  of  the  Stratiotites  of  Theopompos,4 

K airoi  tls  ovk  av  clubs  ev  nparroL  TerpcoftoXl^on', 

Et  vvv  ye  8ta>/3oXoi'  (f)ep<ov  avr^p  rpecpei  yvvcuKci, 

are  of  especial  interest,  not  only  as  showing  that  four  obols  a  day  was 
an  average  wage,  —  the  hire  of  the  mercenary  necessarily  having  been 
made  equivalent  to  the  ordinary  pay  of  the  agricultural  laborer,  —  but 
that  the  expenses  of  living  for  a  single  individual  during  antiquity5 
stood  in  the  same  relation  to  his  earnings  as  that  which  obtains  to-day 
among  the  Greek  peasants. 

It  is  more  difficult  to  arrive  at  a  precise  estimate  of  the  price  of 
grain  during  antiquity.  One  of  the  inscriptions  found  at  Assos,6 
relates  to  this  very  subject,  but  the  stone  in  question  is,  unfortunately, 
mutilated,  and  the  text  so  incomplete  as  to  afford  almost  no  direct 
information  concerning  the  most  important  point.  Could  one  more 
letter  be  deciphered  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  line,  it  would 
be  possible  to  determine  the  price  asked  for  the  imported  grain 
sold  at  Assos  by  the  benefactor  of  the  town  in  whose  honor  this 
stele  was  erected.  A  calculation  of  the  gap,  according  to  the  res¬ 
toration  of  Professor  Ramsay,7  who  assumes  that  four  or  five  letters 
only  are  missing  from  the  left  side  of  the  stone,  would  indicate 

1  Plutarch,  Lysand.,  IV.  4,  and  the  passage  quoted  in  the  preceding  note. 

2  Eustathios,  on  Iliad,  XIII.  636,  Leipzig  edition,  vol.  iii.  p.  178,  1.  10. 

3  Pausanias,  quoted  by  Eustathios,  Od.,  I.  156,  vol.  i.  p.  41,  1.  23. 

4  Preserved  by  Pollux,  IX.  64  (VI  ). 

6  Two  obols  each,  a  day,  was  also  the  amount  set  apart  by  the  inhab¬ 
itants  of  Troizen  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Athenians  who  had  taken  refuge 
with  them  during  the  Persian  invasion.  (Plutarch,  Themist.,  X.  3.) 

6  Assos  Inscriptions,  No.  XXV. 

7  Ramsay  (William  M.),  Arotes  and  Inscriptions  from  Asia  Minor.  VI.  The 
Inscriptions  of  Assos.  American  Journal  of  Archaeology,  vol.  i.  p.  149.  Baltimore, 
1SS5. 


346 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


a  number  expressed  by  two  letters,  —  that  is  to  say,  the  sign  for 
some  number  greater  than  ten.  It  is  certainly  more  probable  that 
the  medimnos  of  wheat  was  sold  for  six  than  for  eleven  drachmas. 
But  this  method  of  determination  is  altogether  too  uncertain  to 
form  the  basis  of  any  further  calculation.  Moreover,  the  gratuitous 
distribution  of  food  among  the  populace,  and  the  sale  of  ten  thou¬ 
sand  drachmas’  worth  of  grain  at  a  rate  so  low  as  to  be  put  on 
record  as  a  public  benefit,  makes  it  almost  certain  that  the  inscrip¬ 
tion  refers  to  a  time  of  dearth.  Hence  the  prices  obtaining  under 
such  exceptional  conditions  could  not  have  a  direct  bearing  on  the 
present  question,  even  were  the  numeral  known  with  certainty.  A 
case  strikingly  parallel  to  the  public-spirited  action  commemorated 
by  the  Assos  inscription  is  that  of  certain  clients  of  Demosthenes.1 
The  orator  relates  that,  in  order  to  relieve  the  suffering  of  the  poorer 
classes  during  the  general  distress  occasioned  by  the  assault  of  Alex¬ 
ander  upon  Thebes,  Chrysippos  and  his  partner,  wealthy  merchants 
of  Athens,  had  sold  a  large  quantity  of  grain  at  the  usual  price,2  —  five 
drachmas  the  medimnos,  —  although  it  had  then  risen  to  sixteen 
drachmas.  The  grain  market  of  the  ancients,  still  more  than  that  of 
the  moderns,  was  subject  to  great  fluctuations,  dependent  upon  the 
yield  of  the  harvest,  the  effects  of  wars  and  blockades,  and,  in  par¬ 
ticular,  the  artificial  values  resulting  from  speculation  and  usury.  Thus 
a  passage  in  Pollux 3  refers  to  the  payment  of  thirty-two  drachmas 
for  the  medimnos  of  wheat,  —  apparently  in  connection  with  the 
“^corner  ”  which  resulted  from  the  infamous  commercial  operations  of 
Kleomenes.  Such  prices  can  enter  as  little  into  a  calculation  of  the 
normal  value  of  cereals,  as  can  the  fabulous  sums  paid  for  small 
quantities  of  grain  in  besieged  towns.  The  six  or  more  drachmas  for 
which  the  medimnos  of  wheat  was  sold  to  the  Assians,  if  the  proposed 
restoration  of  the  inscription  be  correct,  would  thus  be  ruled  out  by 
the  same  principle  which  excludes  the  two  hundred  drachmas  paid 
for  the  medimnos  of  grain  by  the  inhabitants  of  Praeneste  when  be- 


1  Demosthenes,  Adv.  Phorm.,  XXXVIII.  (918). 

2  The  words  of  Demosthenes,  Ka9e(TT7)Kv7a  ri/n-f],  can  in  this  case  only  be 
taken  to  signify  the  normal  price.  Boeckh  {Staatshcmshaltung,  vol.  i.  p.  132),  at  all 
events,  refutes  the  assumption  of  Letronne  {Considerations,  p.  113),  who’ trans¬ 
lates  the  phrase  in  question  “prix  taxe.” 

3  Pollux,  IV.  165.  Compare  Boeckh’s  note  {Staaishaushaltung,  vol.  i.  p  13c) 
on  the  reading  of  this  passage. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS. 


347 


sieged  in  Casilinum  by  Hannibal,1  the  three  hundred  drachmas  paid 
by  the  Athenians  during  the  attack  of  Demetrios  upon  their  city,2  or 
the  thousand  drachmas  said  to  have  been  paid  during  the  siege  of 
Athens  by  Sulla,  when  the  inhabitants  were  reduced  to  eating  their 
leather  bottles,  and  even  their  shoes.3 4 

It  is  thus  necessary  to  base  the  present  calculation  upon  the  ref¬ 
erences  concerning  the  value  of  grain  in  Greece  during  times  of 
peace  and  plenty,  which  are  to  be  derived  from  the  writings  of 
the  ancient  authors,  and  from  inscriptions.  A  comparison  of  many 
such  indications,  though  often  widely  divergent,  leads  to  the  belief 
that  the  price  of  wheat,  during  the  last  four  centuries  before  Christ, 
maintained  an  average  of  three  drachmas  a  medimnos,  —  that  is 
to  say,  $0,585  (metallic  value)  for  52.35  litres,  or  $11.17  the 
stere. 

Only  the  more  important  passages  which  have  led  to  this  conclu¬ 
sion  need  here  be  quoted.  In  the  Ekklesiazousai 4  we  hear  Blepyros 
complaining  of  having  failed  to  receive  a  hectos  of  wheat,  which  he 
refers  to  as  the  equivalent  of  a  triobolon,  —  thus  estimating  it  at  three 
drachmas  the  medimnos.  This  value  is  quite  in  accordance  with  the 
price  of  barley  at  about  the  same  time.  We  learn  from  passages  of 

1  Strabo,  p.  249.  The  present  writer  has  followed  Boeckh  in  rejecting  the 
emendation  of  Casaubon,  who  would  read  fxvos  for  /xe5'i/j.vov,  —  a  conjecture 
adopted  by  many  editors.  No  serious  difficulty  is  presented  by  the  mention  of 
the  measure,  without  further  specification ;  and  it  is  evident  that,  while  the 
buyer  may  have  saved  himself  from  dying  of  hunger,  during  the  continuation 
of  the  siege,  by  the  consumption  of  a  bushel  and  a  half  of  grain,  it  is  scarcely 
possible  that  he  could  have  supported  life  upon  a  mouse  !  Nevertheless,  the  tale 
was  widely  circulated  throughout  antiquity,  that,  during  this  siege,  a  mouse  was 
sold  for  a  large  sum:  stated  as  two  hundred  denarii  by  Pliny  (VIII.  82)  and  by 
Valerius  Maximus  (VII.  6.  3),  and  as  one  hundred  by  Frontinus  ( Strategematica, 
IV.  5.  20).  The  identity  of  these  traditions  with  that  given  by  the  Greek  writer 
is  evident  from  the  repetition  of  the  same  phrases.  In  view  of  these  objections, 
it  can  only  be  assumed  that  the  manuscripts  of  Strabo  have  preserved  the  true 
account  of  a  transaction  which  the  Latin  authors  have  misrepresented. 

2  Plutarch,  Demetr.,  XXXIII.  2.  Boeckh’s  emendation,  /ueSi/xvos  for  /16810s, 
is  adopted  in  the  text ;  otherwise  the  price  of  grain  would  have  been  nearly 
double  that  which  obtained  during  the  much  greater  famine  caused  by  the  siege 
of  Sulla.  It  is  doubtless  owing  to  a  misprint  that  Boeckh’s  remark  (Staats/ians- 
haltung,  vol.  i.  p.  135)  reads  “ /j.6Sios  statt  u48i/j.vos.” 

3  Plutarch,  Sulla,  XIII.  x. 

4  Aristophanes,  Ekkles.,  547. 


34§ 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Plutarch  1  and  of  Arrian,2  relating  to  the  time  of  Sokrates,  that  the 
latter  grain  cost  one  obol  the  half-hektos,  or  two  drachmas  the  medim- 
nos ;  barley  being  without  doubt  considered  in  Attica,  as  elsewhere 
throughout  the  ancient  world,3  to  be  worth  two  thirds  as  much  as 
wheat.  The  same  estimate  for  barley  may  be  derived  from  Diogenes 

Laertios,4 5  who  speaks  of  the  choinix  as  selling  at  two  chalkoi, 

certainly  cheap  for  so  late  a  period,  as  we  learn  from  a  passage  of 
pseudo-Aristotelian  Economics 6  that  four  drachmas  the  medimnos 
was  a  not  uncommon  price  for  pearl  barley  at  Lampsakos,  on  the 
highway  of  the  grain  trade  from  Scythia  to  the  Peloponnesos,  and 
that  the  price  was  raised  by  the  state,  in  an  exceptional  case,  to 
half  as  much  again. 

The  most  important  of  the  inscriptions  bearing  upon  this  point  is  a 
tariff  of  the  income  of  certain  Attic  priests,  dating  from  the  first  quarter 
of  the  fourth  century  before  Christ.6  In  this  interesting  document  the 
price  of  the  hemihektos  of  wheat  is  fixed  at  three  obols ;  but  in  con¬ 
sideration  of  the  small  quantity  sold,  and  the  practice  of  privileged 
dealers  in  sacrificial  requisites  at  all  periods,  it  is  not  too  much  to 
assume,  with  the  learned  editor,  that  the  profit  taken  was  large,  —  at 
least  one  hundred  per  cent,  if  we  may  trust  the  indications  derived 
from  the  passages  before  quoted.  Calculations  based  upon  Koppen’s 
celebrated  inscription 7  show  the  medimnos  to  have  been  sold,  among 
the  Borysthenians,  in  the  last  half  of  the  third  century  before  Christ, 
for  two  and  for  four  drachmas.  Still,  little  weight  can  be  attached 
to  the  inscription  in  this  respect,  as,  unless  the  reading  of  the  lines 
be  at  fault,  similar  calculations  lead  to  prices  possible  only  under 
exceptional  conditions. 

It  is  evident  that,  from  the  time  when  barter  was  first  superseded 

1  Plutarch,  De  Tranquillitate  Animi,  X. 

2  Stobasus,  Flor.,  XCVII.  28. 

3  Compare  the  Sicilian  prices  given  by  Polybios,  XXXIV.,  apud  Athen 
VIII.  1. 

4  Diogenes  Laertios,  VI.  2.  (35). 

5  Aristotle,  Oecon.,  II.  7. 

c  Published  by  Boeckh,  De  Inscriptione  Attica  Res  sacras  spectante,  in  the 
Verzeichniss  der  Vorlesungen  der  Berliner  Universitdt ,  1835-36.  Berlin,  1836. 
Reprinted  in  his  Gesammelte  kleine  Schriften,  vol.  iv.  Leipzig,  1874. 

7  Koppen  (Peter  von),  Olbisches  Psephisma  zu  Ehren  des  Protogenes.  Wien, 
1823.  Corpus  Inscript.  Graec.,  No.  2058. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS. 


349 


by  the  use  of  coined  money,  and  when  Solon  fixed  the  price  of  the 
medimnos  of  wheat  at  one  drachma,1  the  value  of  grain  relative  to 
that  of  the  precious  metals  steadily  continued  to  increase.  Letronne,2 
in  his  admirable  investigations  concerning  the  coinages  of  antiquity, 
reaches  the  conclusion  that  the  average  price  of  the  medimnos  of 
wheat,  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  century  before  Christ,  was  two  and  a  half 
drachmas.  He  estimates  the  value  of  wheat,  compared  with  silver, 
weight  for  weight,  to  have  been  enhanced  from  i  :  3146  in  400  b.  c.  to 
1  :  2681  in  50  b.  c.  This  increase  is  only  between  five  and  six  per 
cent  for  each  hundred  years,  and  though  Letronne’s  assumption  of 
two  and  a  half  drachmas  the  medimnos  may  be  a  fraction  too  small, 
even  for  the  eminently  productive  period  preceding  the  outbreak  of 
the  Peloponnesian  war,  it  is  impossible  to  adopt  for  any  subsequent 
age,  under  normal  conditions,  a  higher  estimate  than  three  drachmas 
the  medimnos. 

This  argument  is  borne  out  by  an  examination  into  the  price  of 
cereals  in  Rome  and  its  dependencies.  The  value  of  wheat  cannot 
have  differed  greatly  in  Italy  and  Greece,  supplied  as  both  these 
countries  were  by  importation.  In  Rome  we  find,  at  the  same  period, 
an  average  price  of  three  sesterces  the  modius,  that  is  to  say,  $0,127 
(metallic  value)  for  8.72  litres,  or  $14.49  the  stere-  The  difference 
between  this  price  and  that  which  resulted  from  a  comparison  of  the 
passages  of  the  Greek  writers  before  quoted  is  fully  explained  by 
the  later  dates  of  most  of  the  Latin  accounts  entering  into  the  esti¬ 
mate.  The  best  authority  is  Cicero,  who  states  that  in  Sicily,  in  his 
time,  the  modius  of  wheat  was  valued  by  law  at  three  sesterces.  The 
orator  also  refers  to  the  price  having,  in  some  cases,  been  as  low  as 
two  and  two  and  a  half  sesterces,4  but  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that 
this  was  in  an  exceptionally  fertile  and  well-cultivated  country,  which 
supplied  a  great  part  of  Italy  with  grain.5  Moreover,  we  learn  from 

1  Plutarch,  Solon,  XXIII.  5. 

2  Letronne  (Jean  Antoine),  Considerations  generates  sur  revaluation  des 
Monnaies  Grecques  et  Romaines.  Paris,  1817. 

3  Cicero,  In  Verrem,  Act.  II.  Lib.  III.  75>  4  Ibid.,  74- 

6  How  great  weight  is  to  be  attached  to  this  consideration  is  evident  from 
the  fact,  that  in  Cisalpine  Gaul  —  a  province  extraordinarily  fertile,  and  so  re¬ 
mote  from  the  great  grain  markets  of  antiquity  that  the  produce  could  not  be 
transported  to  them  —  the  medimnos  of  wheat  was  sold  in  the  time  of  Polybios 
(II.  15)  for  the  equivalent  of  four  obols. 


35° 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


the  same  authority  that  four  sesterces  the  modius  was  paid  by  the 
government  for  a  quantity  of  wheat  furnished  in  compliance  with  a 
levy.1  In  subsequent  ages,  under  Nero,  the  price  of  three  sesterces 
was  considered  remarkably  low,2  the  value  of  the  Roman  coinage  being 
only  seven  eighths  of  that  in  use  before  the  imperial  epoch. 

According  to  the  two  averages  thus  obtained,  the  pay  of  the  com¬ 
mon  laborer  of  antiquity,  determined  above,  would  be  equivalent  to  a 
daily  wage  of  n.6  or  of  9  litres  of  wheat,  the  mean  being  10.3  litres. 

From  1881  to  1883  the  price  of  wheat  at  Behram  varied  from  one 
and  a  quarter  to  one  and  a  half  medjids  the  kilo  (a  Turkish  measure 
of  capacity  equal  to  35.266  litres),  that  is  to  say,  from  $28.72  to  $34.17 
the  stere.  The  sum  of  thirteen  piasters  paid  by  the  expedition  to 
the  commonest  laborers  was  thus  equivalent  to  a  daily  wage  of  from 
9.26  to  1 1. 1  litres,  the  mean  being  10.18  litres. 

A  comparison  between  these  results  shows  that  the  average  earn¬ 
ings  of  ancient  and  modern  workmen,  upon  the  same  soil,  differ  only 
about  one  per  cent :  a  fraction  which  in  a  calculation  of  this  kind  is 
not  worthy  of  consideration.  There  could  be  no  more  striking  illus¬ 
tration  of  the  unvarying  standard  of  human  productivity  maintained 
under  circumstances  almost  identical.3 

1  Cicero,  In  Verrem,  Act.  II.  Lib.  III.  70. 

2  Tacitus,  Annales ,  XV.  39. 

8  It  is  evident  that  the  comparison  must  be  strictly  limited  to  these  condi¬ 
tions.  The  differences  between  the  modes  of  life  in  Asia  Minor  and  in  our  own 
country  to-day  are  infinitely  greater  than  are  those  between  the  circumstances 
of  the  ancient  and  of  the  modern  agricultural  laborers  in  Greek  lands.  In  the 
social  economy  of  the  United  States  and  of  Northern  Europe  we  meet  with 
factors  which  have  no  parallel  in  the  sparsely  populated  tracts  of  the  Orient, — 
factors  which,  like  the  high  rents  of  dwellings  and  fields  in  congested  districts, 
are  of  the  utmost  importance  in  every  estimate,  and  forbid  a  comparison  based 
upon  any  single  item.  Thus  the  expression  of  the  average  wages  in  the  amount 
of  grain  for  which  they  are  exchangeable,  would  here  be  altogether  misleading. 

The  English  laborer,  for  instance,  compared  with  the  leisurely  tiller  of  the 
Trojan  plain,  is  forced  to  a  much  more  grinding  toil,  while  obtaining  a  more 
scanty  and  precarious  livelihood.  In  Great  Britain,  as  is  well  known,  10,000 
landlords  receive  from  the  soil  an  income  equal  to  more  than  twice  the  wages 
paid  to  their  850,000  servants.  Nothing  can  be  more  certain  than  that  the 
English  workman  is  underpaid.  Yet,  judging  from  the  item  of  bread  alone,  he 
receives  nearly  half  as  much  again  as  does  the  Turk  or  Greek.  The  laborers 
at  Assos  who  earned  least  had  the  equivalent  of  4.74  kilograms  of  bread, — 
the  oke  costing  three  and  a  half  piasters  gera ,  or  $0,086.  The  poorest  farm 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS. 


351 


A  similar  correspondence  becomes  evident  from  a  comparison  of 
the  ancient  and  the  modern  prices  of  wine,  which,  as  an  article  of  con¬ 
sumption  grown  upon  the  soil,  is,  for  comparison,  second  in  impor¬ 
tance  only  to  the  cereals.  During  the  ages  of  antiquity  for  which  the 
preceding  calculations  were  made,  the  ordinary  cost  of  native  wine 
seems  to  have  been  about  four  drachmas  the  metretes,  or,  expressed  in 
metallic  value,  two  cents  the  litre.  In  the  speech  against  Phainippos, 
the  speaker  tells  us  that  the  price,  which  had  then  risen  to  thrice 
the  usual  amount,1  was  twelve  drachmas  the  metretes.2  This  is  a  fair 
average  between,  on  the  one  hand,  the  excessively  low  values  of  Upper 
Italy  3  and  Sicily,4  where  the  metretes  was  sold  for  two  obols  and  for 
one  drachma  respectively,  and,  on  the  other,  the  exceptionally  fine 
and  expensive  varieties,5  such  as  the  vintage  of  Chios,  sold  at  Athens, 
even  as  early  as  the  time  of  Sokrates,  for  one  mina  the  metretes.6 
The  laborer  of  antiquity,  for  his  four  obols  a  day,  would'  thus  have 
received  six  litres  and  a  half  of  wine.  The  same  quantity  would  be 
equivalent,  also,  to  the  average  daily  wages  of  the  workmen  employed 
in  the  excavation  of  Assos.  The  fluid  oke  of  Tenedos  or  Mytilene 
wine  was  sold,  in  1883,  for  one  piaster  and  a  half  gera  (three  fortieths 
of  a  medjid), —  that  is  to  say,  for  about  six  cents  the  litre.  Six  litres 
and  a  half  would  consequently  have  cost  somewhat  less  than  half  a 
medjid. 

The  relative  cost  of  meat  cannot  be  so  accurately  determined ;  still 
it  is  sufficiently  evident  that  in  this  article  of  food,  as  in  grain  and 
wine,  there  was  a  general  agreement  between  the  ancient  and  modern 
values.  No  beef  is  now  to  be  had  in  the  Troad,  cattle  being  kept 

laborers  in  Essex,  Suffolk,  and  Norfolk,  hired  for  twelve  shillings  a  week,  and 
buying  the  quartern  loaf  for  fivepence,  or,  as  at  present,  for  fourpence,  receive 
6.9  or  8.6  kilograms  a  day.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  latter  is  decidedly  the 
worse  off. 

1  Demosthenes,  Adv.  Phaen.,  XXXI.  (p.  1048.  24). 

2  Ibid.,  XX.  (p.  1045.  4). 

8  Polybios,  II.  15.  4  Ibid.,  XXXIV.,  apud  Athen.,  VIII.  1. 

6  A  fragment  of  Alexis  (in  Athenaios,  III.  86)  shows  the  chous  to  have 
been  retailed  at  ten  obols.  At  this  rate  the  metretes  would  have  cost  twenty 
drachmas.  But  this  price  is  given  by  the  play-writer  as  an  instance  of  the 
extortionate  charges  of  the  Athenian  cooks ;  moreover,  it  was  asked  for  wine 
provided  at  a  banquet,  and  doubtless  of  superior  value. 

6  Plutarch,  De  Tranquillitate  Animi,  X. 


352 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


solely  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  the  plough  and  treading  out  the 
grain.  The  ample  information  possessed  concerning  the  value  of 
oxen,  in  ancient  times,  is  thus  not  directly  available  for  this  com¬ 
parison.  The  flesh  of  goats  is  that  most  commonly  eaten  by  the 
present  inhabitants  ;  but  the  passages  of  the  classic  authors  refer¬ 
ring  to  the  price  of  these  animals  do  not  afford  a  basis  for  trustworthy 
calculation.  As  to  sheep,  a  laborer  can  to-day  earn  a  fine  animal, 
costing  about  three  medjids  and  a  half,  by  the  work  of  from  seven  to 
nine  days.  This  would  lead  us  to  expect  the  value  of  a  sheep  to  have 
been,  in  ancient  times,  between  five  and  six  drachmas.  About  the 
same  amount  results  from  computations  based  upon  the  exceptionally 
low  prices  obtaining  in  Greece  in  the  age  of  Solon,1  and  in  Lusitania 
at  a  later  period,2  if  we  may  suppose  these  values  to  have  compared 
with  those  of  the  fourth  century,  under  normal  circumstances,  in  the 
same  ratio  as  did  the  prices  of  cereals.  The  estimates  based  upon 
these  values,  recorded  by  Plutarch  and  Polybios,  agree  perfectly ;  they 
are  more  applicable  to  the  present  case  than  are  such  of  the  prices 
given  in  ancient  literature  as  refer  to  exceptionally  fine  animals,  to  be 
offered  upon  the  altars  of  the  deities.  It  does  not  conflict  with  the 
assumption  of  an  average  cost  of  between  five  and  six  drachmas,  that, 
for  instance,  in  a  fragment  of  Menander,3  the  price  —  and,  let  it  be 
observed,  the  maximum  price  —  of  a  sacrificial  sheep  is  estimated  at 
ten  or  twelve  drachmas. 

The  expense  of  clothing,  extremely  small  in  both  cases,  seems  to 
be  even  less  in  modern  than  it  was  in  ancient  times.  According  to  a 
passage  preserved  in  Pollux,4  a  chlamys  cost  the  weight  of  three 
(silver)  staters,  —  that  is  to  say,  twelve  drachmas;  a  mantle  is  re¬ 
ferred  to  by  Aristophanes 5  as  wTorth  four  staters,  —  sixteen  drachmas ; 
and  Sokrates  6  thought  ten  drachmas  cheap  for  a  workman’s  sleeve¬ 
less  exomis.  But  these  are  only  portions  of  the  ancient  dress,  and 
the  gala  costume  of  a  Mohammedan  potter  of  Chanak  Kalessi,'  strik- 

1  Plutarch,  Solon ,  XXIII.  5. 

2  Polybios,  XXXIV.,  apud  Athen.,  VIII.  1. 

8  In  Athenaios,  IV.  27,  and  VIII.  67. 

4  Pollux,  VI.  165  (XXXVII.).  5  Aristophanes,  Ekkles.,  413. 

6  Plutarch,  De  Tranquillitate  Animi,  X. 

7  For  a  photographic  illustration  of  this  costume  see  Hamdy  Bey  and  De 
Launay,  Costumes  populaires  de  la  Turquie  en  1873,  Part.  2,  Plate  III.  Con- 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS. 


3  53 


ing  and  even  magnificent  as  it  is,  costs,  all  in  all,  only  about  three 
medjids  and  a  quarter  ($2.63).  If  the  peasant  of  ancient  Attica 
could  earn  one  of  his  garments  by  the  work  of  two  or  three  weeks, 
the  modern  inhabitant  of  the  Troad  can  procure  his  serviceable  and 
picturesque  suit  by  the  work  of  little  more  than  eight  days.  It  is  true, 
the  costume  of  the  fashionable  Greek  of  Mytilene,1  with  its  rich  em¬ 
broidery,  is  rather  more  expensive,  costing  about  ten  medjids,  but  this 
is  a  far  more  elaborate  dress  than  the  simple  garb  which  the  palikaria 
wore  while  at  work,  and  is  treasured  up  in  chests  of  cypress-wood, 
to  be  displayed  only  on  saints’  days  and  wedding  feasts. 


Dress,  Food,  and  Modes  of  Life. 

The  costumes  of  the  Turkish  workmen  were  bright  in  color,  and 
gracefully  worn.  The  sway  of  changing  fashion  is  unknown  in  the 
East,  and  the  garments  and  accoutrements  of  the  country  people 
are  still  the  same  as  those  engraved  by  Manno,  three  centuries 
ago.2  The  turban  is  reduced  in  size,  and  is  now  worn  only  by  old 
men  ;  but  the  red  fez  is  generally  wound  around  with  some  wisp 
of  colored  stuff.  A  good  Mohammedan  never  bares  his  head  in 
public, —the  only  exception  on  record  being  the  act  of  Selim  I. 
after  the  conquest  of  Cairo,  —  and  the  Turk  has  certainly  found  in 
the  fez*  and  turban  cloth  the  most  becoming,  as  well  as  the  most 
comfortable  covering. 

So  great  has  been  the  influence  of  the  conquering  race  upon  its 
cringing  subjects,  that  the  dress  of  the  Greeks  is  now  of  the  same 
general  character  as  that  of  the  Turks.  Few  reminiscences  have 
been  retained  of  the  costumes  of  the  Byzantine  Empire,  or  of  those 
of  the  Frankish  occupation  of  Mytilene. 

In  respect  to  one  article,  however,  the  Greeks  have  preserved 

stantinople,  1873.  The  expense  of  the  suit  is  here  estimated  at  fourteen  francs. 
As  usual,  the  dress  of  the  potter’s  wife,  more  richly  ornamented,  costs  consider¬ 
ably  more  than  his  own. 

1  Ibid.,  Plate  VIII.  The  writer  must  admit  that  he  has  never  known  a  Greek 
of  Mytilene,  or  indeed  of  any  of  its  neighboring  islands,  to  wear  such  a  fusta- 
nella  as  that  shown  in  this  photograph.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  estimate  of 
the  cost  of  the  gala  dress  may  be  admitted  without  question. 

2  These  engravings,  published  in  Denmark  and  signed  F.  Manno,  are  dated 
between  1570  and  1582. 


23 


354 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


a  manner  of  make  well  known  in  classical  antiquity.  While  the 
Turks  depend  altogether  upon  cobblers  for  their  shoes,  —  the 
pointed  and  turned  up  toes  of  which  are  characteristic  of  a  deriva¬ 
tion  from  the  Far  East, — every  Greek  workman  makes  his  own 
foot  covering;  forming,  from  a  single  piece  of  untanned  ox-hide, 
the  same  brogues  as  those  described  by  Hesychios1  as  aypouaxov 
inr687]fjLa  fjLovoSepfxov,  —  which  froze  to  the  feet  of  Xenophon’s  sol¬ 
diers,2  and  are  referred  to  in  the  Pastorals  of  Longos  3  as  having 
been  worn  by  the  peasants  of  this  very  neighborhood.  These  san¬ 
dals,  to-day  called  r^apov^La,  are  the  KapfiarwaL  of  the  ancients. 
The  skin,  after  being  thoroughly  dried,  is  soaked  in  oil  until  it  is 
pliable  ;  the  edges  are  turned  up  at  the  sides  of  the  foot,  perforated, 
and  laced  into  position  with  thongs  of  the  same  material,  the  ends 
of  which  are  long  enough  to  be  wound  around  the  ankle  and  lower 
leg.  The  hair  is  left  upon  the  outside,  curiously  enough,  and  soon 
wears  off  from  the  sole.  Such  simple  articles  of  daily  use,  made 
by  the  common  people  according  to  traditional  forms,  are  much 
less  liable  to  the  innovations  of  improvement  than  are  the  manu¬ 
factures  of  trained  workmen.  This  peculiar  foot  covering  offers 
one  of  the  best  instances  of  the  continuity  of  ancient  customs 
among  the  modern  Greeks. 

In  October,  all  the  men,  Turks  as  well  as  Greeks,  began  to  knit 
diligently  upon  their  stockings  of  coarse  undyed  wool,  spending 
their  evenings,  and  even  the  shorter  pauses  of  the  day,  in  this 
employment,  which  naturally  called  to  mind  the  fact  that  many 
varieties  of  work  now  considered  fit  only  for  women  —  such  as 
embroidery4  —  were,  in  Greek  antiquity,  practised  by  men. 

The  Greeks  of  this  unfrequented  coast  are,  indeed,  as  a  writer  of 
the  time  of  James  I.  has  described  them:  “A  happie  people  that 
liue  according  to  nature ;  and  want  not  much,  in  that  they  couet 
but  little.  Their  apparrell  no  other  than  linnen  breeches ;  ouer 
that  a  smocke  close  girt  unto  them  with  a  towell ;  putting  on  some¬ 
times  long  sleeueiesse  coates  of  homespun  cotten.  Yet  their  backs 

1  Hesychios,  sub  voce  Kapiranvov.  Compare  also  the  definitions  given  by 
Photios  s.  v.  Kap^aTiv-t),  and  Pollux,  VII.  S8. 

2  Xenophon,  Anab.,  IV.  5.  14. 

3  Longos,  II.  3. 

4  Aischines,  In  Timarch.,  XL. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS. 


355 


need  not  enuie  their  bellies :  Biscot,  Oliues,  Garlicke,  and  Onions 
being  their  principall  sustenance.  Sometimes  for  change  they  will 
scale  the  rocks  for  Sampier,  and  search  the  bottome  of  the  lesse 
deepe  seas  for  a  certaine  little  fish  (if  I  may  so  call  it)  shaped  like 
a  burre.1  Their  ordinarie  drinke  being  water :  yet  once  a  day  they 
will  warme  their  blouds  with  a  draught  of  wine,  contented  as  well 
with  this,  as  those  that  with  the  rarities  of  the  earth  do  pamper 
their  uoracities.”  2 

The  food  of  the  workmen  has  been  referred  to  in  the  First  Re¬ 
port,3  where  it  was  pointed  out  how  closely  the  present  ways  of 
life  resemble  those  of  antiquity.  The  alimentary  resources  of 
Behram  are  scant,  even  for  Asia  Minor.  The  chief  meat  is  the 
stringy  flesh  of  goats.  The  sheep  of  the  country,  which  are  of  the 
KovpiovKa  or  fat-tailed  variety  ( Ovis  steatopygos ),  are  not  to  be  had 
at  all  seasons.  In  classic  times  Assos  was  famed  for  its  enormous 
swine;4  but,  owing  to  the  religious  prejudices  of  the  Turks,  there 
are  now  no  tame  pigs  in  the  Southern  Troad.  The  Turkish  hus¬ 
bandmen  on  the  upper  Touzla  kill  great  numbers  of  the  wild  boars 
which  descend  from  the  wooded  heights  of  Ida  to  ravage  the  culti¬ 
vated  fields ;  yet  the  savory  meat  is  never  eaten,  and  the  bodies 
are  left  as  they  fall.  Occasionally,  Greek  villagers  were  induced  to 
bring  the  young  and  tender  boars  to  the  port,  —  a  task  which  they 
undertook  with  many  precautions.  But  during  the  second  year  an 
unfortunate  incident  altogether  stopped  this  supply.  A  small  ani¬ 
mal  wTas  brought  at  night  to  Behram,  and  left  for  some  hours  in  the 
shop  of  a  Greek  bakhal.  Here  it  was  discovered  by  an  orthodox 
Mussulman,  and  for  some  time  thereafter  the  premises  which  had 
harbored  the  unclean  flesh  were  avoided  by  all  the  Turks  of  the 
neighborhood.  It  resulted  from  this  species  of  boycotting  that  the 
corpus  delicti  was  the  last  eaten  at  Assos  by  the  explorers. 

1  The  edible  sea-urchin  ( Echinus  esculentus),  a  favorite  food  of  the  ancients. 
Compare  the  passages  collected  in  Stephanus’s  Thes.,  s.  v.  ixlvos. 

2  Sandys  (George),  A  Relation  of  a  Journey  begun  1610.  Foure  Bookes. 
Containing  a  Description  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  of  At gypt,  of  the  Holy  Land , 
and  of  the  remote  Parts  of  Italy  and  Islands  adjoining.  (First  edition.) 
London,  1615.  This  well-known  and  once  popular  book  went  through  four 
editions  during  the  reign  of  Charles  I. 

3  Report,  p.  26. 

4  Ptolemy  VII.,  Physkon,  quoted  in  Athenaios,  IX.  17 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


356 

Fresh  and  salted  fish  are  to  be  had  in  abundance,  and  are  still 
as  important  an  article  of  food  as  in  classical  antiquity.  On  two 
occasions,  during  the  stay  of  the  expedition,  great  schools  of  fish 
played  along  the  coast,  so  closely  crowded  together  that  they  could 
actually  be  caught  by  hand.  The  villagers,  lounging  in  the  cafes 
and  shops  of  the  little  port,  were  informed  by  a  general  clamor  of 
the  appearance  of  the  prize,  and  rushed  into  the  water  waist-deep, 
using  their  garments  as  casting  nets,  and  dragging  the  fish  on 
shore  by  hundreds.  Naturally,  the  Gulf  of  Adramyttion  is  much 
frequented  by  fishermen,  craft  coming  to  it  even  from  Apulia  and 
Malta.  The  variety  of  the  fish  caught  within  sight  of  Assos  is  very 
great ;  investigations  made  in  this  region  by  a  scholar  as  learned,  in 
the  present  state  of  science,  as  was  Belon  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
or  Sibthorp  a  hundred  years  ago,  could  not  fail  to  throw  much  light 
upon  the  ichthyology  of  the  ancients. 

Not  only  can  we  trace  the  classic  origin  of  almost  all  the  names 
by  which  the  fish  are  still  called,  but  we  may  recognize,  in  the 
means  employed  for  their  capture,  those  in  use  among  the  ancients. 
The  methods  of  the  modern  fishermen  form  in  many  ways  an  inter¬ 
esting  commentary  on  the  Halieutics  of  Oppian,  of  Pankrates,  and 
of  Ovid.1  At  nightfall,  in  calm  weather,  the  fishing  boats  left  the 
little  port,  each  having,  in  a  cresset  projecting  beyond  the  prow,  a 
bright  fire  of  resinous  wood.  Attracted  and  dazed  by  the  glare, 
the  fish  were  speared  in  great  numbers.  The  boats  were  kept  near 
to  the  shore,  and  the  flames  lighted  up  the  field  of  ruins  upon  the 
slope  towards  the  sea.  Far  in  the  distance  could  be  seen  the  fires 
kindled  by  the  fishermen  of  Mytilene  and  of  Aivaly.  This  spear¬ 
ing  by  torchlight,  now  known  as  Trepic^aneu/za,  was  customary  in 
antiquity,  served  Plato  as  an  illustration  in  one  of  his  Dialogues,2 
and  has  been  described  by  Oppian.3 

The  wholesale  poisoning  of  fish,  which  excited  the  repugnance  of 
the  poet,  and  gave  occasion  to  one  of  his  finest  similes,4  is  also 

1  Tchihatchef  ( Asie  Mineure )  remarks,  with  great  truth:  “  Les  operations  des 
pecheurs  de  1’Anatolie  sont  encore  au  point  ou  elles  se  trouvaient  il  y  a  plus  de 
seize  siecles  (du  temps  d’ Allien).”  Unfortunately,  the  work  of  the  great  Rus¬ 
sian  naturalist  and  explorer  does  little  more  than  record  a  few  disconnected 
observations  concerning  this  subject. 

2  Plato,  Sophist.,  V.  (p.  221,  d.). 

3  Oppian,  Hal.,  IV.  640-643. 


4  Ibid.,  IV.  644-693. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS. 


357 


practised  to-day,  although  more  frequently  in  the  mill-races  of  the 
Touzla  than  in  the  open  sea.  The  plants  employed  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  are  those  whose  fish-poisoning  qualities  were  known  to  the 
ancients:  a  kind  of  mullein  ( Verbascum  phlomoides  ?) ,  referred  to 
by  Aristotle  ; 1  and  the  spurge 2  (. Euphorbia  characias  T),  seven  vari¬ 
eties  of  which  are  described  by  Dioskorides.3  The  first  of  these 
is  still  called  <£AojUo  by  the  common  people.  That  this  method  of 
killing  fish  has  been  handed  down  from  ancient  times  in  unbroken 
tradition  is  proved  by  the  occurrence  of  the  expression  <£XojU,o//.eVu> 
if/dprj  in  the  Byzantine  version  of  the  novel  of  Apollonius  of  Tyre,4 
dating,  according  to  Hagen,5  from  the  thirteenth  century. 

The  vertebrae  of  sharks  were  often  found  among  remains  refer¬ 
able  to  the  classic  period.  One  specimen,  taken  together  with 
various  playthings  from  the  tomb  of  a  child  (sarcophagus  No.  97), 
was  cut  to  serve  as  the  hub  of  a  wheel  for  a  toy  cart.  This  whit- 

1  Aristotle,  Hist.  Animal.,  VIII.  20.  (13). 

2  Schliemann  states,  in  his  Reise  in  der  Troas  im  Mai  1881,  Leipzig,  1881 
(translated  and  reprinted  in  his  Troja,  London,  1884,  Appendix  I.),  that  his 
horses,  when  crossing  the  range  of  Ida,  were  muzzled  to  prevent  their  cropping 
the  herbage  by  the  wayside.  He  gatherered  that  this  was  on  account  of  a  mys¬ 
terious  plant,  known  as  Agil,  which  within  a  few  hours  causes  the  death  of  any 
animal  eating  of  it,  but  which  is  harmless  after  flowering  in  the  month  of  July. 
It  may  be  observed,  in  reference  to  this  “  hochwichtige  Thatsache,”  that  the 
Turkish  word  Agol  signifies  spurge.  As  animals  instinctively  avoid  this  plant, 
no  fear  of  poisoning  is  entertained  by  herdsmen  of  experience.  Moreover,  the 
plants  of  the  genus  Euphorbia  have  the  same  qualities  in  the  autumn  as  in  the 
spring.  Schliemann’s  statement,  upon  the  authority  of  his  guide,  that  no  animals 
whatever  are  allowed  to  graze  on  the  heights  of  Ida  before  the  middle  of  July, 
is,  at  all  events,  incorrect.  Great  herds  are  driven  to  the  mountain  pastures 
long  before  that  season. 

3  Dioskorides,  CLXII.,  ed.  Kuehn,  162. 

4  This  work,  reminiscences  of  which  are  still  to  be  traced  in  a  popular  tale  of 
the  Gulf  of  Adramyttion  (compare  p.  003,  note  1 ),  has  been  accessible  to  the  writer 
only  in  the  form  of  a  chap-book,  printed  at  Venice  in  1778.  A  copy  of  the  origi¬ 
nal  edition,  in  the  library  of  Munich,  which  Dr.  A.  Emerson  had  the  kindness 
to  examine,  bears  the  title,  Ai-py^ms  wpaiandry],  ’ Airo\ovlov  (so  written  through¬ 
out)  T7 ]v  (sic)  ev  Tvpca,  f> ip.6Sa ,  and  concludes,  “  Stampato  in  Vinegia  per  Christo- 
foro  Zanetti,  MDLIII.”  The  passage  in  question,  line  896  of  the  poem,  reads, 
Kal  evylnev  els  rb  leeKayos  crav  <pAop.op.ei/(i>  cpapr/,  —  “  And  he  came  up  to  the 
surface  like  a  poisoned  fish.” 

5  Hagen  (Hermann),  Der  Roman  vom  Konig  Apollonius  von  Tyrus,  in  seinen 
verschiedenen  Bearbeitungen.  Berlin,  1866. 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


358 

tling  of  an  Assian  father  is  now  preserved  in  an  archaeological 
museum,  after  having  lain  with  the  ashes  of  the  dead  for  more 
than  twenty  centuries.  The  investigations  of  Reichert  and  Peters  1 
have  shown  that  sharks  formed  a  common  article  of  food  in  the 
northern  Troad,  during  the  earliest  ages  of  antiquity ;  but  the  mod¬ 
ern  Greeks  expressed  abhorrence  at  the  idea  of  eating  this  fish. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  fxiya  kt/tos 
which  devoured  the  unfortunate  Thrasis  in  these  waters 2  was  a 
shark.  A  pointed  fin  was  occasionally  seen  above  the  surface, 
unpleasantly  near  the  bathing-place  of  the  expedition ;  and,  within 
the  memory  of  the  present  generation,  sponge  divers  have  been 
killed  by  sharks.  A  case  in  point,  which  happened  off  the  neigh¬ 
boring  Tenedos,  is  related  by  Ross.3  Still,  the  divers  seem  to 
apprehend  no  danger,  although  the  light  rubber  armor  with 
which  they  are  now  generally  provided  could  afford  no  adequate 
protection. 

Few  sponges  are  to  be  gathered  on  the  northern  coast  of  the 
Gulf  of  Adramyttion,  and  only  once  during  the  stay  of  the  expe¬ 
dition  was  a  professional  diver  seen  at  Behram.  His  visit  was 
brought  about  by  an  accident  which  attracted  the  entire  population 
of  the  village  to  the  shore,  but  this  was  of  a  more  harmless  nature, 
and  of  a  happier  issue  than  those  before  mentioned.  The  case 
was  as  follows.  In  the  summer  of  1882  a  Turk  of  Behram,  in 
charge  of  a  small  coasting  vessel,  returned  from  Smyrna  with  the 
money  of  his  employer,  received  in  payment  for  a  cargo  of  valonea. 
Fearing  that  his  gold  pieces  might.be  stolen,  he  had  tied  them  in  a 
bag  and  stowed  them  away  among  the  stones  of  his  ballast.  By 
some  neglect  this  bag  was  left  in  its  hiding-place  after  coming  into 
port,  and  was  cast  out  with  the  stones.  Now,  because  of  the  in¬ 
creasing  shallowness  of  the  little  port,  the  leading  men  of  Behram 
enforce  a  rule  that  nothing  shall  be  thrown  overboard*within  the 
mole.  The  vessels  have  consequently  to  be  rowed  outside,  in  order 
to  discharge  ballast.  Thus  it  came  about  that  the  gold  was  sunk 
at  a  great  depth.  The  sum,  eighty  pounds,  was  a  fortune  to  the 

1  In  Virchow  (Rudolf),  Beitrdge  zur  Landeskunde  der  Troas.  Berlin,  1S80. 

2  Leonidas,  in  Anthol.  Palat.,  VII.  506. 

3  Ross  (Ludwig),  Reisen  auf  den  griechischen  Inseln  des  dgdischen  Meeres, 
vol.  ii.  Stuttgart  and  Tubingen,  1840-43. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS. 


359 


poor  captain.  After  desperate  attempts  to  pull  himself  down  to  the 
bottom  by  means  of  an  anchor  chain,  he  rowed  at  night  to  Aivaly, 
in  search  of  help.  There  he  fortunately  found  a  diver,  who  came 
to  Behram  on  the  following  day,  bringing  with  him  all  the  appa¬ 
ratus  of  his  profession.  The  search  was  rendered  difficult  by  the 
depth  of  the  water,  but  in  about  an  hour  the  precious  bag  was 
found.  Those  who  were  with  the  Turk  in  the  vessel,  and  shared 
his  anxious  expectation,  will  not  forget  the  expression  of  his  face, 
and  his  joyful  outcry,  when  the  diver,  looking  in  his  armor  like 
some  monster  of  the  sea,  rose  to  the  surface  with  the  gold  in  his 
hand. 

On  days  when  there  was  no  work  the  Greeks  diligently  gathered 
a  species  of  acephalous  mollusk,  undoubtedly  the  same  Ascidia 
described  by  Aristotle,1  and  used  as  food  in  the  time  of  Homer.2 
Heaps  of  shells  among  the  refuse  thrown  outside  the'  city  walls 
during  ancient  times  show  that  the  oysters  of  the  Hellespont  so 
highly  praised  by  Archestratos,3  that  Hesiod  of  epicures,  and  famed 
as  late  as  the  time  of  Virgil4  —  were  appreciated  by  the  ancient 
inhabitants  of  Assos  as  well  as  by  those  of  Ilion  and  Thymbra.5 6 
But,  as  the  Turks  eat  no  shell  fish  of  any  kind,  the  beds  are  little 
cultivated,  and  oysters  are  not  now  to  be  had  in  the  Southern 
Troad. 

The  bread  was  always  good,  —  as  might  naturally  be  expected  in 
a  district  which  from  the  earliest  ages  has  been  celebrated  for  the 
superior  quality  of  its  cereals.  So  highly  prized  was  the  wheat  of 
Assos,  that  it  was  chosen  from  among  all  the  varieties  of  the  East- 


1  Aristotle,  Hist.  Animal.,  IV.  6. 

2  Homer,  II.,  XVI.  747.  Notwithstanding  the  direct  testimony  of  Athenaios 
(III.  39)  and  Suidas  (sub  voce )  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  t rj0os  of  Homer 
is  not,  as  commonly  rendered,  the  oyster,  but  is  identical  with  the  mussel  de¬ 
scribed  by  Aristotle. 

3  Archestratos,  in  Athenaios,  III.  44. 

4  Georg.  I.  206: 

“ ...  in  patriam  ventosa  per  aequora  vectis 
Pontus  et  ostriferi  fauces  tentantur  Abydi.” 

6  The  Ostrea  cristata,  or  plicatula,  was  found  at  Hanai-Tepeh  ;  the  Ostrea 
lamellosa,  at  Hissarlik.  An  interchange  of  these  names  in  Appendix  IV.  of 
Schliemann’s  Ilios  is  corrected  by  Virchow  (Rudolf),  Alttrojanische  Grdber  und 
Schddel.  Berlin,  1882. 


360 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


era  world  to  supply  the  table  of  the  luxurious  kings  of  Persia,  and 
was  exported  even  to  Susa,1  a  distance,  by  sea  and  land,  of  over 
two  thousand  miles,  —  enormous  for  the  commercial  relations  of 
the  time.  The  fields  which  now  produce  the  finest  wheat  are  those 
upon  the  north  of  Behram,  just  beneath  the  walls  of  the  ancient 
city,  in  the  alluvion  brought  down  by  the  little  river  from  the 
detritus  of  the  limestone  and  volcanic  formations  of  Ida.  The 
celebrity  of  the  harvests  of  Assos  was  shared  by  those  of  the  neigh¬ 
boring  Gargara,  its  colony,  the  fertility  of  this  country  having  been 
renowned  even  in  distant  Italy:  — 

“  Hinc  grata  Cereri  Gargara,  et  dives  solum, 

Quod  Xanthus  ambit  nivibus  Idaeis  tumens.”  2 

Equally  renowned  in  antiquity  was  the  grain  of  the  opposite  island, 
by  which  the  supply  of  the  ill-cultivated  Troad  has  now  to  be  eked 
out.  Chief  among  the  bounteous  gifts  of  Demeter,  Archestratos 3 
reckoned  the  bread  of  Lesbos,  made  of  flour  whiter  than  driven 
snow ;  such  were  the  loaves  of  which  the  gods  themselves  did 
eat,  obtaining  them  through  Hermes,  their  steward  and  their  mes¬ 
senger. 

The  wheat  grown  in  the  valley  of  the  Touzla  is  mostly  ground 
in  a  mill  of  primitive  construction,  the  overshot  wheel  of  which  is 
turned  by  the  stream.  Handmills  are,  however,  still  in  use,  and  a 
number  of  saddle-querns,  found  beneath  the  pavement  of  the  tem¬ 
ple  during  the  course  of  the  excavations,  were  carried  off  by  the 
Turkish  villagers  to  be  again  put  to  the  use  for  which  they  were 
roughly  hewn  in  prehistoric  ages. 

The  dairies  of  the  country  are  almost  altogether  in  the  hands  of 
the  Yuruks,  a  nomadic  race  whose  tents  are  pitched  in  all  parts  of 
Asia  Minor,4  and  who,  attracted  by  the  wide  expanses  of  uncul- 

1  Strabo,  p.  735.  Strabo  probably  derived  his  information  concerning  the 
habits  of  the  Persian  kings  from  Poseidonios.  The  latter  is  quoted  by  Athenaios 
(I.  51)  as  stating  the  facts  in  regard  to  the  wine  of  Chalybon,  which  are  also 
mentioned  by  the  geographer. 

2  Seneca,  Phoen.,  IV.  608.  Compare  also  the  lines  of  Virgil,  Georgies,  I. 
102,  103. 

3  Archestratos,  in  Athenaios,  III.  77. 

4  A  picturesque  account  of  the  Yuruks  is  given  by  Choisy  (Auguste),  L’Asie 
Mineure  et  les  Turcs  en  1885.  Paris,  1876. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS. 


361 


tivated  land  and  the  excellent  pasturage  of  Mount  Ida,  are  partic¬ 
ularly  numerous  in  the  Troad.1  Although  undoubtedly  of  Tartar 
origin,  they  are  quite  distinct  from  the  Osmanlis,  who  look  down 
upon  them  as  an  inferior  race. 

The  Greeks  eat  little  butter,  and,  like  their  ancestors,  regard  it 
rather  as  a  medicine  than  as  a  food.2  Its  place  upon  the  table,  and 
especially  in  the  cuisine,  is  taken  by  olive  oil.  This  was  also  true 
of  the  ancients,  being  in  great  measure  due  to  the  exigencies  of 
the  climate.  As  in  antiquity,  butter  is  looked  upon  as  an  aliment 
peculiar  to  the  barbarians,  —  to  the  Turks  of  the  present,  as  to  the 
Scythians  of  former  times,  —  and  among  them  its  use,  to  repeat 
the  words  of  Pliny,3  still  distinguishes  the  rich  from  the  poor.  The 
Yuruks,  at  least  in  the  Troad,  themselves  consume  but  little  of 
this  much-esteemed  fat,  which  is  produced  in  small  quantities,  and 
is  taken  by  the  wealthier  villagers  in  exchange  for  the  few  manu¬ 
factured  articles  required  by  these  primitive  tribes.4 5  It  is  at  best 
only  to  be  had  during  the  early  months  of  the  year.  The  fierce 
heat  of  summer  so  completely  destroys  the  herbage,  that  the  cattle 
would  perish  of  starvation  were  they  not  driven  from  the  arid 
plains  to  the  cool  and  green  heights  of  Ida.  Among  the  Yuruks 
the  churning  is  effected  by  means  of  a  goat-skin,  which,  being  filled 
with  milk  and  securely  tied,  is  rocked  about  until  the  globules  are 
deposited  upon  its  sides.6  The  butter  thus  obtained  is  scraped 
from  the  skin,  mixed  with  an  excessive  quantity  of  salt,  and  melted 
into  earthenware  pots.  From  these  it  can  be  generally  poured, 
and  eaten  rather  as  a  liquid  than  as  a  solid. 

Far  more  appetizing  is  the  yaourt,  or  curdled  milk,  the  o£vy a\a 
of  the  classics,  which  is  one  of  the  chief  articles  of  food  of  the 

1  Photographs  of  Yuruks  of  the  Troad  are  given  in  Hamdy  Bey  and  De 
Launay,  Costumes ,  Part.  2,  Plates  IV.  and  V. 

2  Compare  the  references  in  Dioskorides,  II.  81,  ed.  Kuehn,  p.  200;  and  in 
passages  of  Galen,  too  numerous  to  quote. 

3  Pliny,  Nat.  Hist.,  XXVIII.  35  :  “  E  lacte  fit  et  butyrum  barbararum  gentium 
lautissimus  cibus,  et  qui  divites  a  plebe  discernat.” 

4  The  chief  employment  of  butter,  by  the  Turks  of  Asia  Minor,  is  in  the 
cooking  of  the  pilaf,  or  bulgur,  a  dish  of  unsweetened  rice  which  forms  a  staple 
article  of  food. —  J.  R.  S.  S. 

5  These  skins  are  in  some  cases  suspended,  and  the  churning  is  then  done 

with  an  upright  dasher. — J.  R.  S.  S. 


362 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


Turks,  as  it  was  of  the  ancient  Persians1  and  Scythians.2  The 
two  methods  of  making  it  practised  by  the  Yuruks  are  precisely 
the  same  as  those  known  in  antiquity.3  Actual  delicacies  are  the 
myzethra ,  or  fresh  cream-cheese,  and'  the  kaimak ,  or  clotted  cream. 
The  secret  of  these  preparations,  which  apparently  were  unknown 
to  the  ancients,  and  are  unequalled  by  the  products  of  the  most 
renowned  dairies  of  Europe,  must  have  been  brought  by  the  Turks 
from  their  original  homes  in  the  far  interior  of  Asia.4  The  kaimak, 
at  all  events,  is  described  by  a  hungry  traveller  in  this  country,  a 
generation  before  the  Mohammedan  conquest  of  Constantinople.5 
During  the  past  five  centuries  the  customs  of  the  Turks  have 
changed  even  less  than  those  of  the  Greeks. 

The  wine  of  this  district  was  famed  throughout  antiquity  equally 
with  its  wheat ;  the  produce  of  the  parent  city,  and  of  the  colony  of 
Assos,  being  classed  together  by  Ovid  in  an  extravagant  parallel : 

“  Gargara  quot  segetes,  quot  habet  Methymna  racemos, 

Aequore  quot  pisces,  fronde  teguntur  aves, 

Quot  caelum  Stellas,  tot  habet  tua  Roma  puellas.”  6 

The  praises  bestowed  by  the  ancients  upon  the  wine  of  Lesbos 

were  endless,  and  exhaust  the  commendatory  adjectives  of  the 

« 

classical  dictionary.7  The  vintage  of  Methymna,  in  particular,  was 

1  Plutarch,  Artax.,  III.  I  ;  and  also  Ctesias,  Ind.,  XXII.,  ed.  Lion,  p.  193. 

2  Strabo,  p.  31 1. 

3  Pliny,  Nat.  Hist.,  XXVIII.  36.  The  more  common  of  these  methods  is 
mingling  a  portion  of  old  curds  with  the  fresh  milk. 

4  The  best  kaimak  is  made  from  sheep’s  milk,  which  is  boiled  for  several 
hours  while  being  constantly  stirred.  A  considerable  part  of  its  water  is  thus 
evaporated.  It  is  then  permitted  to  cool  very  gradually,  and  the  cream  is 
removed  by  skimming. 

5  La  Brocquiere  (Bertrandon  de),  Voyage  d’  Outremer  et  Retour  de  Jerusalem 
en  France  par  la  Voie  de  Terre,  pendant  1432  et  1433.  Ouvrage  extrait  d'un 
Manuscrit  de  la  Biblioth'eque  Nationale,  remis  en  Franfais  moderne.  Par  Le- 
grand  d’Aussy.  In  Hakluyt  (Richard),  Collection  of  Early  Voyages,  etc.,  vol. 
iv.  New  edition.  London,  1809-12. 

6  Ovid,  Ars  Amandi,  I.  56-58. 

7  Many  references  of  ancient  authors  to  the  wine  of  Lesbos  are  given  by 
Plehn  (Severus  Lucianus),  Lesbiacorum  Liber,  Berolini,  1826.  The  verdict  of 
antiquity  may  be  summed  up  in  the  words  of  Alexis  (in  Athenaios,  I.  51)  : 

AeaPiov  Trcifiaros 
O uk  icrriv  aKKos  ol^os  r/Slatv  irteiv. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS. 


363 


regarded  as  one  of  the  choicest ; 1  and  the  grapes  of  this  town 
were  extolled  even  by  Virgil,2  whose  testimony  in  their  favor  is  of 
especial  interest,  as  that  of  a  tiller  of  the  fertile  soil  of  Italy. 

I  here  can  be  little  doubt  that,  during  antiquity,  the  vine  was 
extensively  grown  on  the  slopes  of  Assos.  The  importance  of  this 
cultivation,  on  the  continent  as  well  as  on  the  island,  is  attested  by 
the  wide  repute  of  the  extract  of  vine  leaves  made  in  the  neighbor¬ 
ing  town  of  Adramyttion.3  The  nature  of  this  preparation  is  not 
fully  known,  but  it  was  believed  by  the  ancients  to  be  good  for  the 
stomach,  and  to  have  the  admirable  effect  of  keeping  the  mind 
clear.  As  Edremit  has  a  considerable  Greek  population,  the  vine¬ 
yards  in  that  neighborhood  are  still  of  great  extent;  but  Behram 
is  altogether  dependent  upon  the  opposite  coast  for  grapes  and 
wine.  The  change  of  race  which  is  gradually  taking  place  through¬ 
out  the  Troad  is  destined  to  effect  a  revolution  in  the  agricultural 
conditions  of  the  country. 

Asia  Minor  is  so  mountainous  that  few  of  its  larger  towns  are 
without  a  supply  of  snow,  which  is  used,  as  in  antiquity,4 *  to  cool 
the  wines  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  sherbet,  milk  of  almonds,  and 
other  sweet  drinks  of  the  orthodox  Turks. 

Near  the  highest  peaks  of  Ida  the  writer  has  seen,  as  late  in  the 
season  as  the  middle  of  September,  great  quantities  of  snow,  stored 
in  enclosures  of  stone  and  brushwood,  and  covered  with  thick  layers 
of  leaves  and  earth.  A  fragment  of  a  contemporary  history  of  the 
campaigns  of  Alexander  6  shows  that  this  was  the  very  method  of 
preserving  snow  practised  by  the  Greeks  during  the  siege  of  the 
Indian  city  of  Petra.  This  snow,  packed  in  great  saddle-bags  of 
felt,  is  carried  upon  the  backs  of  mules  from  the  heights  of  Ida 

1  Galen  ranks  the  wine  of  Methymna  second  only  to  that  of  Eressos,  Method. 
Medend.,  XII.  4,  ed.  Kuehn,  vol.  x.  p.  832. 

2  Georgies,  II.  89  : 

“Non  eadem  arboribus  pendet  vindemia  nostris 
Quam  Methymnaeo  carpit  de  palmite  Lesbos.” 

3  Athenaios,  XV.  38. 

4  The  custom  of  cooling  wine  with  snow  is  referred  to  by  Xenophon  ( Mem 

II.  1.  30),  and  by  a  host  of  authors  quoted  in  Athenaios  (III.  97-99).  Thus 
we  learn  from  a  fragment  of  Euthykles  (toe.  cit.)  that  snow  was  regularly  sold 
as  a  commodity. 

3  Chares  of  Mytilene,  in  Athenaios,  III.  97. 


364 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


to  the  market-places  of  Edremit  and  Bergama.  Its  gathering  and 
removal  is  a  business  of  such  importance  that  rude  huts  are  built, 
high  above  the  timber  line,  for  the  shelter  of  those  engaged  in  the 
work ;  while  beacons  of  stone  are  erected  to  mark  the  site,  which 
would  otherwise  be  trackless  after  the  autumn  storms  have  covered 
the  earth.  But  there  was  not  sufficient  demand  for  snow  among 
the  poor  villagers  of  Behram,  or  indeed  in  any  part  of  the  Troad, 
to  repay  its  transportation  from  the  Qaz-dagh  towards  the  west. 
The  workmen,  unable  to  obtain  the  luxuries  of  Alexander,  resorted 
to  the  method  of  cooling  known  to  King  Antiochus.1  The  water 
was  kept  in  vessels  of  porous  earthenware,  sprinkled  from  time  to 
time,  and  placed  by  day  in  the  shadow  of  some  great  stone  near 
the  working-place,  and  by  night  upon  the  house-tops,  where  a  light 
breeze  was  generally  stirring.  The  evaporation  kept  the  contents 
so  cool  that  on  very  dry  and  windy  days  the  water  seemed  almost 
to  have  been  iced. 

None  of  the  Greek  workmen  lived  in  the  village.  They  were  all 
immigrants,  and  found  more  congenial  company  among  the  bak- 
hals,  petty  traders,  and  fishermen  at  the  port.  Accommodations 
were  provided  by  the  four  small  houses  at  the  water  side,  which 
were  at  the  same  time  caffis,  shops,  and  bakeries.  Here  the  Myti- 
leneans  hung  up  the  bags  of  goat-skin  containing  their  Sunday 
apparel ;  and  here,  during  the  colder  months  of  the  year,  they 
slept,  closely  packed  together  upon  the  dais  of  the  cafe's,  or  stowed 
away  upon  the  shelves  of  the  grocers  and  bakers. 

In  midwinter  this  life  was  decidedly  uncomfortable.  The  cold 
was  bitter,  and  the  winds  searched  through  the  badly  built  houses. 
Although  one  of  the  two  rooms  occupied  by  the  expedition  had  the 
exceptional  advantage  of  glazed  windows,  it  was  still  found  impos¬ 
sible  to  warm  it  by  means  of  the  manga/,  —  a  modern  representative 
of  the  charcoal  brazier  held  by  Skiron  in  the  relief  upon  the  Tower 
of  the  Winds.2  In  February,  1883,  the  dwelling  was  so  cold  that 

1  Protagorides,  in  Athenaios,  III.  98. 

2  A  chapter  in  Rigler  (Die  Tiirkei ,  Erster  Theil)  deals  with  the  niangal,  and 
with  the  tandur ,  —  an  arrangement  of  wadded  blankets,  like  a  gigantic  tea-cosey, 
used  in  connection  with  it.  The  work  of  this  eminent  physician,  long  a  resident 
of  Constantinople,  gives  one  of  the  best  accounts  of  Turkish  customs  ever  pub¬ 
lished.  It  is,  however,  not  entirely  free  from  plagiarism ;  the  author  has  copied 
extensively  from  the  very  books  which  he  criticises  with  so  much  asperity. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS. 


365 


it  was  impossible  to  write  or  to  draw  for  any  length  of  time.  At 
this  season  the  digging  itself  was  delayed  through  hardships  which 
would  seem  rather  in  keeping  with  an  Arctic  than  with  an  Oriental 
expedition.  Great  fires  were  kept  up  during  the  day  within  the 
Atrium,  which  was  then  being  freed  from  earth,  and  the  men  ate 
their  midday  meal  at  the  bottom  of  a  large  trial  pit,  singeing  the 
hair  upon  their  sandals  in  the  endeavor  to  keep  warm.  At  night¬ 
fall  they  huddled  around  the  baker’s  oven,  a  comfortable  lounging- 
place  corresponding  to  the  “seat  at  the  smith’s  forge,”  against 
whose  temptations  Hesiod  warns  the  country  laborer.1 

In  the  summer  time  these  uninviting  quarters  were  exchanged 
for  the  flat  house-top  of  the  oldest  caffi.  But  as  its  timbers  were 
weak,  and  sagged  in  a  threatening  manner  under  the  weight,  the 
number  of  sleepers  was  strictly  limited  by  the  proprietor.  Those 
excluded  from  the  roof  lay  around  the  fountain,  and  between  the 
houses  and  the  shore.  As  they  were  here  liable  to  be  disturbed 
by  sniffing  dogs,  or  by  a  troop  of  camels  on  a  stampede,  they 
would  often,  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  steal  upon  the  roof  from 
the  slope  behind,  and  for  a  while  sleep  peacefully  with  their  fel¬ 
lows.  Presently  a  cracking  of  the  timbers  would  alarm  the  caffidji, 
who,  becoming  aware  that  the  number  of  those  licensed  to  lie  upon 
his  house-top  had  been  exceeded,  would  drive  off  the  intruders 
with  imprecations  and  blows.  In  the  clamor  which  ensued,  the 
chorus  of  dogs  played  an  important  part,  appearing  promptly  upon 
the  scene,  and  continuing  its  noisy  discourse  long  after  the  origi¬ 
nal  interlocutors  had  been  silenced. 

Indeed,  the  dogs  generally  whined  and  howled  the  whole  night 
long,  giving  warning  of  the  approach  of  any  stranger  by  especially 
savage  barks.  The  plaintive  grumbling  and  spluttering  of  the 
camels,  of  which  no  less  than  sixty  or  seventy  were  often  to  be 
seen  together  at  the  port,  the  bleating  of  tightly  packed  ship-loads 
of  sheep  and  goats,  awaiting  in  extreme  discomfort  a  wind  favor¬ 
able  to  their  passage  across  to  Skamnia,  and  the  occasional  shriek 
of  an  owl  or  howl  of  a  jackal  from  the  ravines  above,  united  with 
the  -hoarse  voices  of  the  dogs  in  a  most  discordant  nocturne. 

1  Hesiod,  lVor7cs  and  Days,  493.  That  the  brazier’s  forge  was  even  regarded 
as  an  inn,  in  the  earliest  ages,  is  evident  from  the  words  addressed  to  Odysseus 
by  Melantho,  Homer,  Od.,  XVIII.  328. 


3  66 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


One  might  suppose  that  this  ceaseless  disturbance  would  render 
the  dogs  useless  as  a  watch.  The  experience  of  the  natives 
throughout  the  East  has,  however,  taught  them  otherwise.  There 
is  a  well-known  Turkish  saying,  that  a  dog  does  not  whine  and 
sleep  at  the  same  time ;  moreover,  the  fury  of  his  bark,  and  the 
entire  change  of  its  tone,  when  a  suspicious  person  does  ap¬ 
proach,  is  quite  sufficient  to  warn  the  entire  community.  There 
is  nothing  really  startling  in  the  usual  vociferations  of  the  Turkish 
dogs,  and  the  villagers  think  it  well  that  whoever  may  be  prowling 
around  their  dwellings  by  night  should  be  informed  afar  off  that 
these  sentries  are  awake.  Their  ordinary  whine  is  nothing  more 
than  a  continual  report  to  the  garrison  that  all  is  well.  The 
student  of  history  will  recollect  that  it  was  through  this  very 
change  of  tone  in  the  voices  of  the  dogs  that  the  citizens  of  ancient 
Messene  became  aware  of  the  presence  of  the  Lakedaimonians 
within  their  walls.1 

The  breed  of  ownerless  and  half-wild  dogs  in  the  Troad  is  the 
same  as  that  of  Constantinople,  so  often  described.  Still,  the 
difference  in  the  appearance  of  the  animals  is  astonishing.  The 
wretched  curs  who  are  kicked  aside  in  the  dirty  streets  of  Galata 
are  spiritless  and  pitiful ;  but  in  the  interior  of  Asia  Minor,  where 
the  dogs  are  esteemed  as  the  guardians  as  well  as  the  scavengers 
of  the  village,  they  are  fierce  and  upright  of  bearing,  although 
usually  half  famished. 


Flora  and  Fauna. 

The  admirable  contributions  of  Webb,  Tchihatchef,  and  Virchow 
to  our  knowledge  of  the  natural  history  of  the  Troad  leave  little 
to  be  said  by  the  non-professional  writer  concerning  the  animals 
and  plants  of  this  district.  Still,  the  field  is  so  extensive,  and  of 
such  exceptional  interest,  that  much  remains  to  be  done  by  well- 
equipped  specialists.  The  American  expedition  esteemed  itself 
fortunate  in  being  able  to  entertain  at  Assos,  for  some  weeks  dur¬ 
ing  the  spring  of  1883,  Mr.  Paul  Sintenis,  a  gentleman  sent  out  by 
the  Botanical  Museum  of  Berlin  to  make  a  thorough  investigation 


1  Pausanias,  IV.  21.  1. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS. 


367 


of  the  flora  of  the  Troad.1  The  publication  of  his  reports,  and 
of  the  descriptions  of  his  extensive  collection,  will  throw  more 
light  upon  the  botany  of  this  part  of  Asia  Minor  than  do  all  the 
works  relating  to  this  subject  which  have  been  cited  and  compiled 
by  Ascherson.2 

The  long  sojourn  of  the  American  explorers  in  the  country  gave 
them,  however,  the  opportunity  of  observing  a  number  of  wild 
beasts,  —  such  as  boars  and  bears,  —  which,  as  they  are  seldom  to 
be  seen  in  the  lowlands  except  when  driven  from  their  native  for¬ 
ests  by  extreme  cold,  did  not  come  under  the  notice  of  the  writers 
before  referred  to,  most  of  whom  made  but  a  comparatively  short 
stay  in  the  Troad,  visiting  the  remote  and  sparsely  populated  dis¬ 
tricts  only  during  the  pleasant  months  of  the  year.  Some  observa¬ 
tions  concerning  the  wild  boars,  which  still  roam  the  upper  valley 
of  the  Satnioeis  in  great  herds,  have  been  made  in  connection  with 
the  representations  of  this  animal  upon  the  reliefs  of  the  chief 
temple  of  Assos.  The  bears  of  the  Ida  range,  “  mother  of  wild 
beasts,”  3  seem  to  have  escaped  notice  by  modern  travellers.  Two 
fine  specimens,  a  she  bear  and  her  cub,  were  met  with  by  the 
writer  in  the  autumn  of  1882,  near  the  headwater  of  the  Qoja 
Tchai.4  They  were  of  the  common  brown  variety,  and  appeared  to 
differ  in  no  respect  from  the  shaggy  and  short-snouted  animals 
which  are  led  through  Hungary  and  Lower  Austria  by  strolling 
players.  During  the  later  ages  of  antiquity  these  bears  of  the 
Troad  were  renowned  for  their  fierceness  and  strength,  and  were 
especially  prized  by  those  great  showmen  among  the  ancients,  the 
contractors  of  the  amphitheatre,  whose  task  it  was  to  supply  the 
savage  beasts  baited  in  the  arenas.  One  of  the  letters  of  Libanios 5 
expresses  the  intense  interest  felt  by  that  distinguished  sophist  in 
an  attempt  made  by  his  fellow  citizens  to  obtain  from  Mount  Ida  a 
number  of  bears  for  a  gladiatorial  combat  to  be  held  at  Antioch. 

1  A  preliminary  notice  of  the  researches  of  Mr.  Sintenis  is  given  in  the  Ver- 
handlungen  von  dem  botanischen  Verein  fur  die  Provinz  Brandenburg ,  vol.  xxv. 
Berlin,  1884. 

2  Ascherson  (Paul),  Catalogue  of  the  Plants  hitherto  known  in  the  Troad. 
Appendix  VI.  to  Schliemann’s  Ilios. 

s  ‘'iSr/r  S’  'Ira vev  nobon'iSara,  p.r)Tepa  dripoov.  II.,  VIII.  47- 

4  The  ancient  Aisepos. 

6  Libanios,  Epist.,  1454,  ed.  Wolfius,  p.  665. 


368 


ARCHEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


A  kind  of  large  black  snake,  common  at  Assos,  has  been  iden¬ 
tified  as  the  Coluber  acontistes.  Two  specimens,  killed  by  the 
men  while  at  work,  were  found  to  measure  not  less  than  two  and 
two  and  a  half  meters  in  length.  Although  not  poisonous,  they 
were  much  dreaded  by  the  Greek  laborers,  and  it  was  undeniably 
disagreeable  to  the  surveyor,  occupied  with  a  large  drawing-board 
upon  his  lap,  to  have  one  of  these  enormous  reptiles  glide  forth 
from  a  heap  of  ruins  beneath  him,  and  across  his  leg.  These  ser¬ 
pents  are  without  doubt  the  same  as  those  of  Pella,  described 
by  Lucian  1  as  having  been  employed  with  success  in  the  juggling 
tricks  of  Alexander  of  Abonouteichos.  Although  not  tamed,  as  in 
ancient  times,  they  still  come  without  fear  into  the  houses,  which 
are  overrun  with  rats  and  mice,  and  join  in  the  destruction  of  these 
pests  with  the  great  weasel,  or  stoat.  It  is  a  curious  fact  concern¬ 
ing  this  weasel,  that  it  changes  the  color  of  its  fur  in  winter,  — 
even  as  do  its  relatives  inhabiting  more  northern  latitudes.  This 
change  has  generally  been  attributed  to  some  harmonious  relation 
between  the  lighter  color  of  the  animal  in  winter  and  that  of  its 
environment  of  snow,  and  the  conformity  to  this  law  in  the  case  of 
the  weasel  of  the  Sporades  —  where  snow  never  lies  upon  the 
ground  —  is  certainly  worthy  of  remark  as  an  indication  of  the 
northern  origin  of  the  genus.  Inquiry  among  the  country  people 
of  Samos  and  Chios  proved  the  difference  between  the  winter  and 
the  summer  coat  to  be  quite  as  marked  in  those  islands  as  it  is  in 
the  colder  Troad. 

The  size  of  the  serpents  killed  at  Assos  is,  however,  as  nothing  to 
that  of  a  species  which  is  said  occasionally  to  make  its  appearance 
in  the  upper  valley  of  the  Satnioeis.  The  Turks  of  Avdjylar  2 *  tell 
of  a  reptile  killed  in  this  region  some  years  ago,  the  body  of  which 
was  “  as  large  round  as  a  man’s  waist,”  and  measured  sixteen  piks 
(nearly  eleven  meters!)  in  length.  Improbable  as  the  tale  may 
sound,  the  existence  of  such  latter-day  pythons  on  the  coasts  of  the 
Aegean  is  well  authenticated.  Dr.  Erhard,  long  a  resident  of  the 
Greek  islands,  in  his  work  on  the  fauna  of  the  Cyclades  8  gives 
several  instances  in  point.  One  of  these  —  which  may  well  serve 

1  Lucian,  Alex.,  VII. 

2  Near  the  site  of  the  ancient  Antandros. 

8  Erhard  (Dr.),  Fauna  der  Cycladen,  Theil  I.  Leipzig,  1858. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  AS  SOS. 


369 


as  a  parallel  to  the  great  deed  of  Apollo  Pythios  —  relates  to  a 
serpent  of  enormous  size  that  had  taken  up  its  abode  on  a  moun¬ 
tain  of  Kephallenia,  and  had  rendered  the  district  literally  unin¬ 
habitable  for  miles  around.  Two  brothers,  armed  with  spears  and 
axes,  attacked  and  killed  the  monster,  and  were  rewarded  for  this 
performance  by  a  remission  of  taxes  during  lifetime,  and  by  hav¬ 
ing  the  mountain  renamed  in  their  honor;  these  privileges  being 
set  forth  and  assured  by  a  document  drawn  up  by  the  civil  authori- 
ities.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  degenerate  spirit  of  modern  days, 
that  these  heroes  are  reported  to  have  long  watched  the  reptile, 
and  to  have  fallen  upon  him  while  asleep. 

Landscape  and  Climate. 

A  short  distance  inland,  at  the  north  of  Assos,  is  an  extensive 
tract  of  hilly  country,  traversed  by  none  of  the  Turkish  bridle¬ 
paths,  and  hitherto  unvisited  by  any  of  those  travellers  who  have 
given  accounts  of  the  Southern  Troad.  Lying  between  the  towns 
of  Neandreia,  Larissa,  Assos,  and  Kebrene,  this  tract  is  a  blank  upon 
the  ancient  map,  and  was  evidently  as  sparsely  populated  in  an¬ 
tiquity  as  it  is  to-day.  It  still  remains  in  a  condition  almost  pri¬ 
meval  :  it  has  been  alike  spared  by  the  conquerors,  and  neglected 
by  the  settlers  of  the  fertile  valleys  of  the  Kebren  and  the  Satnioeis. 
Its  arid  heights  are  covered  with  a  stunted  growth  of  ilex,  oak,  and 
coniferae.  Along  its  scant  water-courses  grow  the  wild  fig,  the  wild 
almond,  and  the  wild  olive,  the  gray  green  of  whose  foliage  is  re¬ 
lieved  in  the  early  spring  by  the  bright  pink  of  the  oleander,  and 
the  delicate  violet-blue  of  the  agnus  castus,  “ancient  garland  of  the 
Carians.”  1  Here  sing  at  evening  an  endless  choir  of  nightingales, 
so  fearless  of  man  that  they  might  almost  be  taken  by  hand.  Here 
are  found  flocks  of  wild  doves,  and  occasionally  the  shy  roller-bird 
( Garrulus  glandarius )  is  seen,  the  brilliancy  of  whose  plumage, 
streaked  with  the  colors  of  ultramarine  beryl  and  changeable  fawn, 
no  pigments  can  represent.  Every  aspect  of  nature  is  the  same 
as  it  must  have  been  to  that  band  of  Cretan  Teukrians,  who, 

1  Nicainetos,  in  Athenaios,  XV.  14.  The  myth  which  was  adduced  in  ex¬ 
planation  of  this  custom  is  related  by  Menodotos  of  Samos,  quoted  in  Athenaios, 
XV.  13. 


24 


370 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


following  the  oracle  of  Apollo,  wandered  through  this  land  until, 
attacked  by  the  hordes  of  earth-born  mice,  they  rested  upon  the 
appointed  site  of  Hamaxitos.1 

Throughout  the  greater  part  of  its  extent,  this  region  is  without 
streams  and  springs,  and  during  the  heat  of  summer  the  appear¬ 
ance  of  many  a  wide  expanse  is  that  of  a  desert.  There  is  an  al¬ 
most  entire  lack  of  one  all-important  family  of  plants,  the  grasses, 
which  on  the  heights  of  Ida,  and  in  the  meadows  watered  by  the 
chief  streams  descending  from  it,  provide  nourishment  for  great 
herds  of  cattle  and  flocks  of  sheep.  A  few  stalks  of  the  Cynodon 
or  Panicum  species  spring  up  from  the  rocky  soil,  as  if  to  prove 
that  it  is  possible  for  the  Gramineae  to  exist,  despite  unfavorable 
conditions.  But  they  do  not  suffice  even  for  the  maintenance  of 
omnivorous  goats,  and  cannot  satisfy  the  eye  accustomed  to  the 
greensward  of  Northern  lands.  It  is  only  in  favored  spots  that  thin 
patches  of  verdure  appear  for  some  weeks  after  the  autumn  rains 
have  set  in.  On  these  wind-swept  heights  the  cold  of  winter  is 
severe.  The  range  upon  the  north  of  the  Satnioeis  forms  a  distinct 
climatic  division  between  the  southern  coast  and  the  interior  of  the 
Troad.  At  the  beginning  of  March,  while  the  vegetation  in  the 
valley  of  the  Scamander,  and  even  in  that  of  the  Kebren,  shows  no 
sign  of  recovering  from  its  winter’s  sleep,  —  while  the  lowlands  are 
often  covered  with  snow,  —  the  banks  of  the  river  flowing  by  the 
walls  of  Assos  are  again  decked  with  the  brightest  green,  and  with 
countless  varieties  of  low-growing  flowers  :  the  yellow,  white,  and 
blue  crocus,  the  saffron,  the  delicate  iris,  and  many-colored  tulips. 
These  high  hills  seem  to  mark  the  northern  limit,  in  Asia  Minor,  of 
the  wild  pomegranate  and  rhododendron ;  and  it  is  a  point  of  the 
greatest  importance  in  the  agricultural  economy  of  the  Troad,  that 
the  olive,  which  is  so  wonderfully  productive  on  all  the  coasts  of  the 
Gulf  of  Adramyttion,  does  not  repay  cultivation  in  the  interior,  and 
is  but  rarely  met  with  along  the  Hellespont. 

At  Assos  itself  the  field  of  ruins  is  thickly  overgrown  with  the 
velvety  green  of  an  aromatic  herb,  Ballota  acetabulosa ,  which, 
although  common  in  the  Peloponnesos  and  on  the  islands  of  the 
Aegean,  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  Trojan  plain.  This  plant  gives 
to  the  ancient  site  its  most  striking  and  most  pleasing  floral  char- 

1  Strabo,  p.  604,  following  Kallinos. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS. 


37 1 


acteristic.  Amidst  its  soft  tufts  rises  the  tail  thorny  stalk  of  a 
poisonous  thistle  ( Echinops  viscosus),  bearing  a  ball  spiked  like 
a  mediaeval  mace,  the  points  of  which  penetrate  leather  and  tear 
strips  from  garments  of  corduroy  ;  and  in  the  shady  corners  of 
the  fortification  walls  grows  the  Arum  dracunculus,  its  gigantic 
flower  exhaling  an  odor  of  carrion  so  intolerable  and  so  over¬ 
powering  that  it  can  only  be  approached  with  tightly  closed  mouth 
and  nostrils. 

In  October  and  November  the  landscape  of  Assos  displays  its 
greatest  beauty.  The  autumn  rains  have  then  cleared  the  air,  and 
cool  breezes  have  swept  away  the  hazy  vapor  which  hangs  over 
the  distant  peaks  of  Ida  during  the  summer  months.  The  sharp 
crests  bordering  the  horizon  are  iridescent  in  an  atmosphere  of 
limpid  purity.  The  reds,  the  grays,  the  purpled  steel  of  these  vol¬ 
canic  formations,  are  veiled  in  a  verdure  of  every  hue  and  tone, 
from  the  sombre  shade  of  cypress  groves  to  the  emerald  light  of 
fields  along  the  river’s  bank.  Every  form  and  every  color  varies 
from  hour  to  hour  as  the  day  advances,  until  at  last  the  summit  of 
Gargaros  glows  with  the  reflection  of  the  sun,  as  it  sets  behind  the 
great  plateau  above  Palamedeion.  Lesbos,  like  a  coquettish  beauty, 
arrays  herself  in  her  finest  colors  at  evening.  The  ravines  upon 
the  side  of  Mount  Lepethymnos  are  marked  by  deep  transparent 
shadows,  and  the  white  houses  of  its  villages  gleam  across  the 
strait.  The  island  upon  which  the  slopes  of  Assos  continually 
look  is  truly,  as  the  Turks  have  called  it,  a  “  Golden  Island,”  — 
“  the  Garden  of  the  Ottoman  Empire.”  In  antiquity  its  natural 
loveliness  must  have  been  enhanced  by  well-cultivated  groves  of 
olives,  and  by  the  quiet  lines  of  columned  stoas  and  temples, 
standing  in  every  town  and  on  every  picturesque  height.  The 
spectacle  brings  to  mind  the  words  by  which  Cicero  characterized 
this  land  :  “  Urbs  et  natura,  et  situ,  et  descriptione  aedificiorum 
et  pulchritudine,  in  primis  nobilis ;  agri  jucundi  et  fertiles  ” ;  1 
and  we  join  in  the  admiration  felt  by  Diodoros  for  Lesbos  and 
her  sisters  :  “  Indeed,  these  islands  in  richness  of  soil  and  plenty 
of  all  things  did  not  only  excel  all  neighboring  countries  in  an¬ 
cient  times,  but  do  so  even  to  this  day.  For  the  fertility  of  the 
soil,  the  pleasantness  of  the  situation,  and  the  healthfulness  of 


1  Cicero,  De  Lege  Agraria,  II.  16. 


372 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


the  climate  is  such  that  they  are  not  without  cause  called,  but 
are  really  and  in  truth,  blessed  and  happy  islands.”1 

The  effect  which  the  seasons  of  the  year  have  upon  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  the  country  is  wonderful.  In  the  heat  of  summer,  the 
traveller  will  fail  to  recognize  many  a  spot  the  beauty  of  which  he 
admired  but  a  month  or  two  before.  During  July  and  August, 
when  the  thermometer  is  known  to  rise  to  1150  Fahrenheit  in  the 
shade,  all  vegetation  in  the  plains  and  upon  the  hillsides  is  burnt 
and  leafless.  At  midday  the  hand  can  scarcely  be  borne  upon  the 
baked  and  fissured  earth.  It  is  rare  that  the  parched  fields  are 
refreshed  by  a  shower  between  the  months  of  June  and  October. 
In  1883,  an  exceptionally  cool  season,  there  were  storms  of  thunder 
and  lightning  during  the  first  days  of  July,  yet  there  was  no  appre¬ 
ciable  fall  of  rain.  Much  damage  has,  however,  been  known  to 
occur  from  hail,  in  midsummer. 

A  spectacle  which  frequently  presents  itself  at  this  time  of  the 
year  is  the  mirage,  which  generally  appears  at  Assos,  towards  the 
west,  above  the  strait  between  Metbymna  and  Lecton.  The  phe¬ 
nomenon  has  also  been  observed  upon  the  western  coast  of  the 
Troad.2 

When  the  summer  gales  of  northern  wind  —  the  Etesians  of  the 
ancients  —  were  not  in  force,  great  relief  from  the  heat  was 
brought  by  a  sea-breeze  from  the  west-southwest,  known  as  the 
Imbat,  which  springs  up  at  about  two  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  and 
continues  until  nightfall.  It  was  without  doubt  owing  to  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  these  winds,  that  the  level  of  the  tideless  sea  was  varied 
by  an  otherwise  inexplicable  ebb  and  flow,  the  difference  in  height 
from  one  day  to  the  other,  often  being  more  than  half  a  meter. 

In  the  late  autumn  the  south  wind  brings  heavy  rains,  which 
filled  our  trenches  and  trial  pits,  and  made  outdoor  work  impos¬ 
sible.  This  wind,  still  called  by  its  classical  name  Nona  (Noro?), 
is  figuratively  known  to  the  Greek  workmen  as  a  irak\r)Kapiov,  —  a 
handsome  youth  of  proud  bearing.  They  say  that  he  possesses 
large  bags  of  skin,8  which  he  dips  into  the  sea  by  means  of  the 

1  Diodoros,  V.  82,  Booth’s  translation.  London,  1700. 

2  Fontanier  (V.),  Voyages  en  Orient,  de  I'Annee  1821  d  1829.  Paris,  1829. 

3  The  larger  size  of  these  skins  of  pigs  and  goats,  used  for  the  transportation 
of  wine,  oil,  cheese,  and  even  honey,  was  known  at  Assos  as  yvTtKLov ;  the 
smaller  size,  as  rov\ovfjLLov. 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASSOS. 


373 


clouds,  lifting  them,  full  of  water,  high  up  into  the  air,  and  carrying 
them  to  distant  countries  where  he  empties  them  upon  the  earth ; 
either  through  a  small  sieve,1  through  a  large  meshed  screen,2  or 
without  any  such  medium  for  dividing  the  drops,  —  according  as 
the  rain  falls  in  a  fine  drizzle,  in  a  heavy  shower,  or  in  one  of 
those  torrents,  known  only  in  southern  latitudes,  in  which  the 
water  seems  to  descend  in  sheets.3  The  personification  of  the 
south  wind  as  a  graceful  and  wayward  youth,  and  of  the  north  wind, 
Boreas,  as  a  fierce  and  bearded  man,  is  the  same  as  that  which 
prevailed  among  the  ancients.  In  the  reliefs  upon  the  Tower  of 
the  Winds  in  Athens,  Notos  holds  a  sprinkler,  which  corresponds  in 
idea  to  the  sieve  of  the  Romaic  peasant.  The  antique  conception 
of  the  winds  as  winged  messengers,  which  was  certainly  retained 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  seems  to  be  wholly  lost.  These  picturesque 
myths  are  more  and  more  forgotten  as  Occidental  literature  and 
ideas  are  introduced  by  means  of  the  increasing  commercial  inter¬ 
course  with  Europe.  The  popular  fairy  tales,  and  even  the  legends 
of  Byzantine  Christianity,  are  held  to  be  outgrown,  and  are  told 
only  by  old  women.  The  coming  generation  will  have  little  knowl¬ 
edge  of  this  unwritten  lore,  handed  down  from  generation  to  gener¬ 
ation,  the  tradition  of  which  still  forms  a  link  between  the  present 
and  the  past. 

On  the  whole,  it  may  be  said  that,  in  the  Troad,  more  real  suf¬ 
fering  is  caused  by  the  cold  of  winter  than  by  the  heat  of  summer  : 
this  being  due  to  the  same  lack  of  provision  for  excluding  chill 
draughts  and  for  warming  living-rooms.  At  Assos  the  inclemency 
of  January  is  to  be  ascribed  rather  to  the  piercing  wind,  than  to  a 
really  low  temperature.  The  rivers  of  the  country  are  frozen  over 
for  but  a  short  time,  if  at  all,  and  the  sensitive  rhododendrons  and 
pomegranates  are  rarely  injured  by  frost. 

The  spring  is  variable.  Calm,  clear  days  in  April  are  sometimes 
uncomfortably  warm,  but  the  north  wind  may  bring  a  sudden  re¬ 
turn  of  the  cold.  It  is  the  old  struggle  of  the  sun  and  the  wind,  — 

1  Known  at  Assos  as  <rrap/cd,  or,  more  commonly,  by  its  Turkish  names,  Cal- 
bour  and  Eleck. 

2  Greek  8pip.6ve,  Turkish  Jiusare. 

3  A  myth  of  the  same  character,  differing  only  in  detail,  is  still  current  in 
Attica.  '  Compare  TIoA'itvs  (N.  I\),  AypiuSeis  MeTfoopoAoyiKol  Mvdoi.  ’Ey  ’Adr) vois, 
1880. 


374 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


always  present  to  the  mind  of  the  Greeks.  Upon  the  north  of  the 
range  bordering  the  Satnioeis  the  alternations  of  temperature  are 
much  greater  than  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Assos.  On  the  first 
day  of  April,  1883,  the  writer  lost  his  way  while  riding  among  the 
hills  near  the  juncture  of  the  Kebren  and  the  Scamander,  on 
account  of  the  bridle-paths  being  covered  with  snow;  ice  was 
formed  upon  standing  water  in  the  Trojan  plain  on  the  morning 
of  the  8th  of  April,  1882  ;  and  snow  has  been  known  to  fall 
heavily  along  the  Hellespont  on  the  12th  of  May.  Yet  the  white 
caps  disappear  from  the  peaks  of  Ida  early  in  June  ;  Schliemann 
errs  in  speaking  of  these  heights  as  covered  with  eternal  snow.1 
This  fickleness  of  the  spring  is  characterized  by  the  Greek 
peasant  in  a  warning  quatrain  : 

"OAo  rb  Mdprri  <pv Aaye, 

Kal  r’  ’AirpiAiov  ras  5 e/ca, 

Ki  ’ an6p.ii  Kal  ras  Se/coKTto 
UepbtKa  ’\f/6(priae  ’a  rb  avy6.2 

Few  parts  of  Asia  Minor  are  of  more  general  interest  and  more 
easily  accessible  than  the  Troad.  The  number  of  visitors  to  it  will, 
without  doubt,  increase  from  year  to  year.  For  those  who  love  the 
sea,  who  have  some  knowledge  of  modern  Greek,  and  who  are  not 
in  haste,  the  best  way  of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  country 
is  to  hire  one  of  the  small  sail-boats  which  abound  in  Mytilene, 
provision  it  well,  and  with  two  sailors,  one  of  whom  may  serve  as 
guide,  run  along  the  coast  from  Atarneus  (now  the  port  of  Per- 
gamon)  to  Troy,  —  making  leisurely  excursions  into  the  interior, 
on  foot,  and  unimpeded  by  baggage.  The  great  drawbacks  of 
the  journey  by  land  — the  bad  food  and  sleepless  nights  — may 
thus  be  avoided.  The  manner  of  travelling  through  the  interior 
on  horseback  has  not  changed  in  any  particular  since  the  visit  of 

1  Schliemann  (Heinrich),  Trojanische  Alterthiimer .  Bericht  iiber  die  Ausgra- 
bungen  in  Troja,  p.  15-  Leipzig,  1874. 

2  “  Be  on  your  watch  (against  the  frost)  the  whole  of  March,  and  (until)  the 
10th  of  April  (22d,  new  style),  and  even  (until)  the  18th  (30th,  new  style),  when 
a  partridge  has  been  known  to  perish  (by  freezing  to  death)  on  her  very  eggs. 

The  early  dates  named  in  this  saying  seem  to  show  it  to  have  been  framed 
for  a  warmer  latitude,  a  supposition  confirmed  by  its  familiar  use  in  the  vicinity 
of  Smyrna.  Compare  Mommsen  (August),  Griechische  Jahreszeiten,  No.  440. 
Schleswig,  1873. 


4 


INVESTIGATIONS  AT  ASS  OS.  37  5 

Bertrandon  de  la  Brocquiere,  in  1432. 1  For  such  an  excursion  the 
months  of  September,  October,  and  November  are  by  far  the  most 
pleasant.  The  heat  of  summer  has  then  abated,  while  showers  of 
rain  are  neither  so  frequent  nor  so  heavy  as  to  cause  the  loss  of 
much  time.  The  weather  is  cool  and  bright ;  and  the  landscape, 
covered  with  a  varied  vegetation,  is  seen  at  its  greatest  beauty. 
For  a  trip  of  but  a  few  days,  horses  and  a  guide  can  be  hired  in 
the  town  of  the  Dardanelles  at  the  rate  of  about  one  medjid 
apiece  per  day.  But  the  independence  desirable  for  a  longer 
journey  can  only  be  secured  by  buying  the  mounts,  care  being 
taken  to  provide  a  European  saddle.  The  sturdy  and  sure-footed 
little  horse  of  Mytilene  and  the  Troad  —  so  highly  extolled  in  for¬ 
mer  centuries  by  Stochove  2  and  Sestini  3  —  may  be  bought  for 
eight  or  ten  Turkish  pounds,4  and,  if  well  cared  for,  sold  again  at 
the  end  of  the  journey  with  little  or  no  loss. 

A  region  of  much  interest,  hitherto  almost  entirely  unvisited,  is 

1  La  Brocquiere,  Voyage  d'Outremer.  The  author  gives  a  most  detailed  ac¬ 
count  of  all  matters  relating  to  travel. 

2  Stochove  (Vincent  de),  Voyage  faict  es  Annees  1630-1633.  1st  edition. 
Bruxelles,  1643. 

3  Sestini  (Domenico),  Lettere  odeporiche,  o  sia  liaggio  per  la  Penisola  di 
Cizico  per  Brussa  e  Nicea,fatto  /’  Anno  1779,  vol.  vi.  Livorno,  1785. 

4  The  price  of  horses  in  the  Troad  is  certainly  low,  not  only  in  comparison 
with  the  sums  asked  for  the  same  animals  in  Constantinople  to-day,  but  also 
and  especially  in  comparison  with  those  which  are  recorded  to  have  been  paid 
during  antiquity.  It  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  difference  in  the  value  of 
horses  in  ancient  and  modern  times.  Isaios  (De  Dicaeog.  Hered.,  ed.  Schomann, 
XLIII.)  speaks  of  an  animal  of  the  poorest  kind  as  worth  three  minas, —  or,  in 
other  words,  the  equivalent  of  the  wages  of  a  laborer  for  more  than  a  year 
and  a  half.  That  twelve  minas  was  a  not  uncommon  price  for  a  good  saddle 
horse  is  evident  from  Aristophanes  ( Clouds ,  1224),  and  especially  from  Lysias 
(npbs  rovs  avvova lcutt as  KaKoAoyloov,  ed.  Franz,  X.)  who  tells  of  this  amount  having 
been  lent  on  a  horse  which  had  been  taken  in  pawn.  The  sum  last  named 
would  not  have  been  earned  by  the  architect  of  the  Erechtheion  in  four  years ! 
Even  restricting  the  parallel  to  the  poorest  paid  class  of  day  laborers,  such 
prices  as  these  are  from  ten  to  twenty  times  as  much  as  those  now  ruling  in 
Asia  Minor. 

It  may  be  remarked,  as  a  curiosity,  that  Boukephalos  was  sold  for  the  enor¬ 
mous  sum  of  thirteen  talents  (Aulius  Gellius,  V.  2,  quoting  Chares  of  Mytilene), — 
the  equivalent  of  fully  $35,000  to-day, —  and  yet  could  have  served  only  to 
gratify  the  pride  of  personal  display  in  the  owner,  not  bringing  to  him  any  such 
income  in  the  shape  of  prize  and  entrance  moneys  as  does  a  modern  racer. 


376 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE. 


that  upon  the  north  and  northeast  of  Ida,  around  the  head-waters 
of  the  Karesos  and  the  upper  course  of  the  Aisepos.  The  thor¬ 
ough  examination  of  this  tract  could  scarcely  fail  to  increase  our 
information  concerning  the  remains  of  antiquity,  as  well  as  con¬ 
cerning  classical  topography. 

Could  the  traveller  have  come  to  Assos  during  the  excavations 
of  the  American  expedition,  he  would  have  heard,  afar  off,  the 
chorus  of  the  workmen,  as  they  sang  together,  sailor  fashion,  while 
rolling  aside  the  shaft  of  some  column  ;  he  would  have  been  guided 
to  the  site  of  the  ancient  temple  or  theatre  by  the  creaking  of  the 
dusty  barrow  wheels,  and  by  the  blows  of  the  heavy  hammer 
breaking  some  stone  too  large  to  be  lifted  entire.  Now  the  silence 
of  that  hillside  will  be  broken  only  by  the  roll  of  the  waves  upon 
the  beach  beneath  the  cliff,  and  by  the  tinkling  bells  of  the  goats, 
as  they  twist  their  necks  to  browse  upon  the  tough  shoots  of  the 
oak  bushes  which  have  again  overgrown  the  ruins  of  the  Greek 
Bath,  the  Agora,  and  the  Street  of  Tombs. 


